When selling sizzle was truly an art

The methods for marketing cars have changed dramatically over the years.

MUCH has been written on the early technological development of the automobile, the visionaries who moved it from circus sideshow curiosity to necessity, and the dramatic societal changes wrought by replacement of the horse and buggy.

Curiously, a vital component in this transition from stirrup to throttle and public acceptance of the automobile is seldom given more than cursory examination.

In the beginning automotive advertisement was as primitive as the machines that they promoted. Patent medicine and shoes were often promoted with more enthusiasm than the automobile. The automobile was marketed with dry and wordy advertisement void of illustration. Filled with technical terms and scientific terminology they were as exciting as an insurance seminar.  

As an example, an advertisement for the 1900 Porter Stanhope begins with a banner headline proclaiming that this was “The Only Perfect Automobile.” A small pen and ink portrayal of the vehicle and a notation of weight and price was followed by several hundred words of text. “A handsome, stylish vehicle which can be started instantly and without previous laborious or lengthy preparation, can be stopped promptly, can be run at any speed up to twenty-five miles per hour …”

An advertisement from 1903 is more than stark in its simplicity. “The Jaxon – Steam is Reliable and Easily Understood.”

Another from 1903 presents only a side view illustration of the car followed by the address of the manufacturer and, “Wanamaker Automobiles – The New Searchmont.”

 Many leading proponents of the automobile openly questioned the need for manufacturers to advertise at all. In 1897, Edward Goff, editor of the The Motorcycle, asked that question in the May issue and answered it by saying, “…it would require volumes to produce arguments in its favor. The manufacturer of the motorcycle is in a position to take advantage of more free advertising than any other industry.”

When it came to automotive advertisement, initially not even increasing competition, dramatic technological evolution, and a rapidly changing public perception of the automobile changed this school of thought. However, a few astute businessmen, such as Ernest Elmo Calkins, felt that the establishment of artistic standards as well as tailoring promotion to target a select market would benefit a manufacturer. He also felt that that this would give an automobile company an advantage over the competition and that the company that provided this promotional service would have unlimited potential for profit.

And so, in 1908 he partnered with Ralph Holden and launched Calkins and Holden, the first American advertising company to focus exclusively on automobile promotion. The company’s first customer was Pierce-Arrow.

The work of this pioneering advertising agency elevated the concept of automobile promotion above the perception that it was a pulp mill for wordsmiths’ incapable of earning a living as a writer. It also provided new opportunities for artists that earned their living from the creation of paintings used for penny post cards, posters, or book illustrations.

Active recruitment of artists for promotion of the Pierce-Arrow by Calkins and Holden was the first step towards establishment of the artistic standards envisioned by Elmo Calkins several years before. This was also an industry first.

Among the renowned artists who lent their talents to the promotion of Pierce-Arrow for the agency were Edward Borein, a master of western art in the style of Remington, and Ludwig Hohlwein, the leading German poster painter of the time.

Other artists included Newell Convers whose illustrative work for the books penned by Robert Louis Stevenson had made him legendary, and Joseph Leyendecker, famous for this Saturday Evening Post covers.

The resultant work was stunning, capable of conveying the message that Pierce-Arrow was not an average automobile for the average buyer. As the advertisements had few or no words, they stood in stark contrast to what had been the industry standard. In an instant, the Victoria era of advertisement was rendered antiquated and dusty.

What Calkins & Holden did for art in automotive advertisement Edward “Ned” Jordan did for colorful, concise, inspiring word pictures. Jordan began honing his skills for the development of automotive advertisement in the summer of 1907 for the Thomas B. Jeffery and Company, manufacturer of the successful Rambler, a company owned by his wife’s family.

In January of 1916, Jordan announced his resignation from Thomas B. Jeffery and Company and that he would soon be forming a company for the manufacture of automobiles. The resultant Jordan was a fine automobile that would most likely have faded into obscurity with the hundreds of other forgotten cars that were built during this period if it had not been for the advertising and marketing genius of the company’s namesake.

In a brilliant move the first advertisement for the Jordan appeared jointly in Motor Age and The Automobile with neither giving the identity of the company other than the trademarked Jordan Arrowhead in bright red. The advertisements were old fashioned with no photos, just concise well-chosen words that stirred the imagination. A footnote that inquiries for purchase or dealership opportunity were to be forwarded to either publication followed. The next week’s advertisement featured the Jordan name and an eight-page insert entitled, “The Realization of a Great Ideal.”

This format of teaser followed with full-blown descriptive promotion would become a hallmark of Jordan advertisement. However, the true legacy of Ned Jordan is the advertisements composed of stunning word pictures designed to stir the imagination.

“Smart Designs for Smart Folks” “The Jordan Silhouette – Women, with a natural appreciation of comfort, atmosphere and poise …” “Someday in June, when happy hours abound, a wonderful girl and a wonderful boy will leave their friends in a shower of rice …” “Somewhere west of Laramie there is a bronco busting, steer roping girl who knows what I’m talking about …”

Cadwallader Kelsey, the brilliant sales manager for Maxwell-Briscoe, laid the next foundational stone for the development of automotive specific advertisement. Stunting for sales had been an integral part of automotive promotion at least since 1896 when the Duryea Motor Wagon received top billing over the albino, dog boy, and fat lady at the Barnum and Bailey Circus.

Kelsey honed and perfected promotional stunts into a veritable art form. As an example, in Philadelphia, location for his first agency, Maxwell automobiles drove up the steps to the classiest restaurants in town, on a thousand-mile trip up and down Broad Street, and countless other stunts with banners flying. Then he added a modern twist with the hiring of Lubin Film Studios to capture the stunts for showing at nickelodeons. The filmed automobile commercial was born. 

Completing the foundation of modern automotive promotion was the development of slogan usage. Initially these slogans focused on a cars ability to overcome the difficulties of the pioneering motorist. As a result, they today serve as wondrous time capsules.

For the Jackson “No Hill Too Steep, No Sand Too Deep” and the Pope-Toledo was the “Quiet Mile A Minute Car.”  The Allen was “The King of Hill Climbers.”

With the establishment of customer loyalty and standardization of the industry, the honing of slogans and jingles into messages that provided instant association for a manufacturer became an integral part of any promotional campaign. Cadillac has been “The Standard of the World” for almost a century. “Ask the Man Who Owns One” left little doubt that Packard owners were satisfied customers. The Lozier was, “The Choice of Men Who Know.”

Quantum leaps in automotive technology made cars dependable and less costly to operate than a wagon and team. This in turn gave way to a rise in the supportive infrastructure needed for automotive usage to be practical beyond the confines of urban areas.

The development of automotive advertisement, however, was key in the transformation of the automobile from a household luxury to a necessity, from sideshow curiosity to a multimillion-dollar business, and from the dream of eccentrics to a reality of steel and glass. It was automotive advertisement that encouraged people to “See the USA in a Chevrolet,” and to think about the “Ford in Your Future.”

  Written by Jim Hinckley of jimhinckleysamerica.com

Powells’ sport wagon – it looked to the future and relied on the past

Sports utilities are now a global success story. In the 1950s’, however, they were very much an oddity – not least the Powell, a new vehicle relying on recycled parts.

THERE is little to indicate the Powell brothers, Channing and Hayward, were overly imaginative individuals - nor could they be considered visionaries.

It is most apt, perhaps, to call them ‘opportunists’. The brothers Powell were astute and successful businessmen who capitalised on a need.

It was their ability to spot profitable trends that prompted their initial automotive related venture in 1926, the production of light delivery scooters with optional sidecars for use in the increasingly urban environment of Los Angeles.

In post-World War II California, they saw opportunity in the rise of suburbia. This was the catalyst for their most ambitious venture, the production of a light duty, multipurpose utility vehicle that was inexpensive to purchase as well as to operate.

After careful deliberation, the brothers determined that the most profitable way to capitalize on what they perceived to be a lucrative niche marker was the utilisation of an existent chassis and other components.

This would enable the company to produce a light utility vehicle, with a sales price of less than $1000. To this end, the first operational prototype completed in 1952 utilised a refurbished 1940 Chevrolet sedan chassis and a Powell designed pickup truck body with fibreglass bonnet and wooden bumpers.

By the time production commenced the Powell brothers had decided the 1941 Plymouth chassis would better suite their needs. Unlike the Chevrolet these cars had an open drive shaft rather than torque tube, a more modern brake system, and independent front suspension. They also had full pressure oil systems and insert rather than babbitt bearings. Another factor was the availability of donor vehicles in wrecking yards throughout the southern California area.

The first production Powell, a “Sport Wagon” truck, like the Chevrolet Suburban, rolled from the plant in October of 1954. Almost immediately, the narrow focus on 1941 chassis expanded to include any six-cylinder Mopar through 1950 as well as industrial engines cannibalised from equipment such as forklifts.

With exception of the fibreglass bonnet and grille, and wooden bumpers and tailgates, the Powell was all steel but still weighed 200 pounds (90 kilograms) less than the standard 1941 Plymouth sedan.

The trucks stood sixty-eight inches (172cm) high, rode on 6.00x16 inch wheels and tires, and had an overall length of 168 inches (426cm). As production began in earnest the decision was made to continue using polished oak for the bumpers, and painted oak for the tailgate, on the sport wagon as well as a pick up truck.

The options list was relatively short; turn signals, chromed wheel discs and two-tone paint in combinations of white, red, green, and yellow. One of the more fascinating options was a concealed tube built into the right rear fender, running lengthwise, for carrying fishing poles and similar items. Another was an in-house built pop up camper for the pickup truck that made up for the 200-pound weight savings.

Production of Powell trucks began with the removal of bodies and the rebuild of all usable parts from the Mopar chassis including steering and suspension components. Engines were rebuilt and bench tested, and transmissions received new seals as well as replacement of worn gears. New wheel bearings were installed, and the rear differential was rebuilt.

The steel components of the Powell bodies, all built on special jigs, were then fitted to the rebuilt chassis, fiberglass components were formed and attached, new gauges were installed in the donor cars dash faceplate. Unlike with contemporary trucks, the cab and box were integral units.

The completed vehicle was rated a quarter ton truck. The originally target sales price was missed but still that base list price was $US1095, and $US1198 for the deluxe configuration. Included in this price was a 90-day or 4,000-mile warranty on all mechanical components.

Motor Trend magazine extensively road tested a Powell Sport Wagon in 1956. Their writer’s impressions were mixed but editor Walt Moron, the primary driver, felt there was merit in this niche market vehicle.

Even though sales were barely adequate to keep the limited production capabilities of the company busy, the positive response to the line of trucks and wagons led the brothers to revive ideas to produce a lightweight, small self-contained motor home. They had initially toyed with the idea shortly before WWII. Two prototypes were built in 1956 but plans for production were suspended after it was determined that building the Nomad would exceed production capacity and possibly jeopardize the truck project.

Still, in the late fall of 1956 the last Powell trucks rolled from the Compton, California plant. It was not financial instability of the company that ended production of the short-lived Powell. Nor was it a lack of sales as the company had orders for several hundred trucks when it closed its doors. It was that the supply of readably available donor vehicles was exhausted, and the company management deemed it cost prohibitive to consider another type of vehicle.

The Powell scooter was largely a local product with many sales being in the Los Angeles and San Diego area. Despite national publicity, a requirement that vehicles be picked up from the Compton factory resulted in most Powell trucks being sold to buyers in southern California and the southwest.

Powell pickup trucks and wagons were relatively scarce when new. Attrition and time have greatly thinned the ranks but those that remain stand as mute testimony to the contributions of independent thinking.

Written by Jim Hinckley of jimhinckleysamerica.com

Continental: Engine maker to the US vehicle industry

Recalling the history of the enterprise that would power a diverse count of car and light trucks.

IF asked to compose a list of the 10 figures most responsible for the development of the American automobile industry, would your list include A.W. Tobin and Ross Judson?

Those men today may be less than an obscure footnote to automotive history. Yet the business they created was the very cornerstone for a staggering number of famous and forgotten manufacturers. It was also a foundational element in the development of the fledgling American aeronautical industry.

The story begins in 1901 when Judson, a gifted engineering student, had an opportunity to dismantle and examine a Mercedes L-head four-cylinder engine and noticed numerous flaws. The mechanical odyssey filled him with unshakeable conviction that he could resolve these issues and vastly improve that engine.

In 1902, almost immediately after graduation from the Armour Institute of Technology, Judson drafted a sales pitch that he presented to Tobin, his brother-in-law, an up-and-coming financier. His enthusiasm was infectious, and Judson soon had a partner in Tobin, a $US2000 investment of capital from this partner, a rented hayloft converted to a machine shop in Chicago, and a company incorporated as Autocar.

Judson’s first engine showcased by an eye-catching display debuted at the1903 Chicago Automobile Show. Judson and Tobin were possessed of unbridled confidence and had high expectations from this endeavor, but the inundation of orders must have left them stunned.

To fill these initial orders, the company hired 25 men and launched full-scale production along with expansion of the facilities. By 1904, Judson and Tobin found themselves in the enviable position of needing to find a location suitable for dramatic and immediate expansion.

Incentives provided by the city of Muskegon, Michigan, resulted in the relocation of Autocar operations and the construction of a state-of-the-art, 16,000-square-foot factory in 1905.

The following year, the company experienced equally dramatic changes and was already planning expansion as a result. As an example, Studebaker, just one of several customers, increased its order from 100 engines to 1000 in just six months. Production of stationary engines commenced and the number of employees increased from 25 to almost 600.

Then the fledgling company hit a major obstacle in the form of a lawsuit. Autocar, a manufacturer in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, had used the name since 1899 and was threatening to sue if the name of the Muskegon based company was not dropped. As a result, Tobin and Judson reorganised their company under the Continental name.

As an example of the men’s willingness to adapt to changing markets, in 1908 the company developed an aircraft engine production-and-development division. This would become a subsidiary, Continental Aircraft Engine, in 1929, with the 170hp A-70 radial engine as the foundation.

From its inception the company had turned a profit and expanded production each year. Then in 1910, with receipt of an order for 10,000 engines by a new manufacturing concern, Hudson, Continental launched an ambitious expansion programme that included addition to the Muskegon facility and construction of a second factory in Detroit. Two years later, Walter Frederick, a former engineer for the truck manufacturing concern Autocar, assumed Judson’s position as chief engineer.

Under his supervision, the company dramatically expanded the engineering department and launched the development of a line of engines specifically for catalog sales to automobile manufacturers, companies in need of stationary industrial engines, aircraft firms, and tractor manufacturers. And if a client requested engine specifications not listed in the catalog, staff engineers modified existing models accordingly.

The next 20 years were golden for Continental. Automobiles manufactured by Apperson and Case, Crawford and Jordan, Ace and Vellie, Durant and Erskine, and more than two dozen other companies ran on Continental engines. Companies that manufactured trucks exclusively including Corbitt, Federal, Schacht, Selden, Sterling, and Reo used gasoline and diesel engines designed by Continental for industrial applications.

The 1920s was another pivotal period for the company. W.R. Angell, a member of the company’s board of directors, finalized an agreement with William Durant, the founder of General Motors and Chevrolet, to supply engines for his new lines of automobiles – Durant, Star, Flint and Ruby trucks for export.

The success of the company led to numerous purchase inquiries, and merger overtures. The most promising and thought-provoking merger negotiation was between Continental and three automobile manufacturers that utilized that company’s products – Peerless, Moon, and Jordan. In the midst of discussion Jordan was placed in receivership, Moon sales plummeted and Peerless suffered a series of dramatic setbacks. As a result, any plans for merger were abandoned.

The new decade and the dawning of the Great Depression began at Continental with Judson’s retirement and the rise of Angell to the presidency of the company. His expansion of the diesel truck, aircraft, stationary, and agricultural engine divisions of the company kept it afloat and even relatively profitable during the early days of the economic calamity.

However, his decision to initiate the launch of a Continental-manufactured automobile and the acquisition of a truck manufacturer nearly sank the company. The short-lived Continental Beacon, Flyer, and Ace were little more than new emblems placed on the equally unsuccessful De Vaux. The acquisition of Divco, a manufacturer of delivery and step vans, in 1932 proved another unwise, costly venture.

Norman De Vaux, a close friend of William Durant, had had several successes in the auto industry. He was instrumental in establishment of the California dealership network for Chevrolet and had worked with Colonel Elbert J. Hall in the establishment of Hall Scott Motor Company to produce aircraft, tractor, and bus engines. The De Vaux automobile endeavor was their second partnership.   

Resultant of the worsening economic climate, poor sales, quality control issues and other problems, the De Vaux introduced in early 1931 was on the cusp of receivership by midsummer. To further complicate issues the company had an arrangement with Hayes Body Corporation to produce De Vaux bodies. And so, when the company was acquired by Continental, it was deeply in debt. Divco was not in much better shape. And so Continental was pushed to the brink of insolvency resultant of the acquisition. But the company survived.

The richly diverse legacy of independent thinking Ross Judson did not end with the Great Depression or the heady days of the post-war era. Continental engines powered the grandfather of the Jeep, the Bantam Reconnaissance and Command Car prototype, as well as the iconic Checker taxi through early 1964. Nor did it end with the cessation of engine manufacturing as Continental lived on into the late 20th century as Ryan Aeronautical and Teledyne Continental Motors.

Written by Jim Hinckley of jimhinckleysamerica.com

Remembering the Ruxton

The story of America’s first front-wheel-drive car is a turbulent tale.

THE Ruxton could have changed the direction of America’s automobile industry. It could have been the saving grace for Moon. It might have transformed the Hupp Motor Car Corporation and enabled the company to survive the Great Depression. It had the potential to give Kissel a marketing boost.

But there were two major obstacles that proved insurmountable. One was the dramatic economic downturn that kicked off with the stock market crash in October of 1929. The second was Archie Andrews, a swashbuckling financier and promotor not constrained by ethics.

The Ruxton story starts with William Muller who was working as an experimental engineer at the Edward G. Budd Manufacturing Company in the mid-1920s. The company was a major producer of auto bodies for numerous manufacturers that was looking for opportunities to diversify operations.

This worked well for Muller who had an idea for a revolutionary front wheel drive vehicle. After presenting his ideas to the board of directors, he was given the green light to develop a prototype. Upon completion, plans for the car that had been dubbed Ruxton by Andrews, with Budd body, would be sold to an established manufacturer under limited license for production and distribution.   

Archie Andrews was a member of the board of directors for several companies including Budd and Hupp Motor Car Corporation. The Ruxton project piqued his interest. So, he deftly used his position on the boards in the hope of having Hupp manufacture the car. When that initiative failed, he established New Era Motors in April 1929 with plans to produce the car himself.  

But Andrews was unscrupulous. Indicative of this was use of the Ruxton name. When Andrews had first gained control of the project at Budd, he had been involved in back door negotiations with William Ruxton, a financier that was a member of the New York Stock Exchange. Ruxton chose not to invest in New Era Motors, but the Ruxton name on the car enabled Andrews to attract investors. It took William Ruxton several years of legal wrangling and lawsuits against Andrews to prove that he was not involved with the company and had not given permission for use of his name. By then the Ruxton was an historic footnote.

New Era Motors had a prestigious address in New York City. It had eager investors and it had excited stockholders. It had a colorful prospectus. It had a stylish front wheel drive prototype with Budd body. It had exclusive production rights secured from Budd. But it was all a façade, an automobile manufacturing company without a factory, engineers, a dealer network, or plans for distribution.   

With the colorful low-slung front wheel drive car powered by a 100-horsepower eight-cylinder engine produced by Continental as his business card Andrews aggressively sought partnership with a company to produce the Ruxton. Negotiations with Peerless, Gardner and Marmon were fruitless. Next, he prepared a sales pitch for St. Louis based Moon, a company that had been established in 1905 and that was on the cusp of receivership resultant of declining sales, quality control issues, and a growing reputation for unreliability.    

In November 1929, a press release announcing that Moon would be producing the exciting new Ruxton was published in trade journals as well as St. Louis newspapers. The board of directors at Moon staked it all on the project that had two components. The Ruxton and production of the Moon bodies by Budd as a cost saving measure, an arrangement negotiated by Andrews. What they had not counted on was Andrews ruthless back room deals.

As part of the arrangement, Andrews would provide designs and limited patent rights for the Ruxton in exchange for a sizable, preferred stock interest in Moon. Unknown to the directors he had also acquired blocks of stock through purchase by a proxy before closing the deal. These were sold at a profit with announcement that Moon would be manufacturing the new car. Then came his boldest move which was an attempt to remove the board of directors with plans to assume complete control of the company. His plans also called for restructuring the company and using it as collateral to fund acquisition of several small independent automobile manufacturers that were on the cusp of bankruptcy.  

C.W. Burst and the Moon board of directors filed for an injunction hoping to stave off Andrews company take over. When the stay was overturned, they filed an appeal and literally barricaded themselves in the boardroom while awaiting a decision. Andrews and Muller that had been lured from Budd with the promise that he would be appointed president at Moon, and several hired thugs broke down the door and served court papers giving him control of the company.

As suits and countersuits circulated in the courts, and precious cash reserves were expended on legal fees, the Ruxton and the Windsor, a rebadged Moon, entered production in June 1930. The Ruxton was also being produced in the Hartford, Wisconsin factories of Kissel, a company that Andrews had manipulated into producing the car as well as transmissions and final drive assemblies.

When Andrews attempted a take over of Kissel in a manner like that used to gain control of Moon, the Kissel brothers shuttered their company and filed for bankruptcy. As Moon’s cash reserves had been depleted, parts suppliers were demanding payment, and the Ruxton project was brought to a standstill without the Kissel produced components, Andrews was forced to suspend all production on November 10, 1930. A filing for receivership was submitted on the 15th.

Kissel, a company that had began operations in 1907 as Kissel Kar, reorganized as Kissel Industries and manufactured automotive components into the 1940s. Andrews had so financially entangled Moon with other companies, resolution of the bankruptcy, and subsequent claims and lawsuits were not completed until 1965!

Incredibly this was not the end of Andrews automotive endeavors. He maneuvered his position on the board of directors at Hupp and was elected chairman. Angry Hupp stockholders that had lost money on Moon and New Era Motors filed a string of lawsuits when Andrews attempted to gain full control of the company and use assets to take over Gardner, Stutz and Peerless.

Andrews was forced from Hupp, and private assets were seized. For the next few years Andrews was engaged in constant legal battles. They only ended in 1938 because Andrews died of heart failure at age 59.

Only about 500 Ruxton automobiles were manufactured but some were not sold until 1932. Of these about twenty-five had been produced at the Kissel factory. This included two custom phaetons produced for the Kissel brothers. Four other special bodied show cars were produced in the Moon factory. The production models were roadsters and sedans.

For all his shortcomings, Andrews was a promoter and showman extraordinaire. Ruxton automobiles were finished in outlandish tricolor or two tone finishes with color combinations such as lavender, black, and grey. They sat ten inches lower than most production cars manufactured at the time, and there were no running boards. The narrow Woodlite headlights gave the car a distinct appearance. The Ruxton would not be mistaken for anything else on the road.

Surprisingly, the cars were well engineered. Owners expressed overall satisfaction with the Ruxton. And unlike the first generation of the contemporary front wheel drive Cord, the Ruxton did not have shifting or transmission issues. And those that have survived into the modern era are treasured by collectors.  

Written by Jim Hinckley of jimhinckleysamerica.com

Spark of genius

Albert Champion did not invent the spark plug, but his name lives on today with this vital component.

EARLIEST references to sparking plugs date to 1839 and newspaper articles about Edmond Berger who had created and was experimenting with such a device.

What it was to be used for and how it was powered are a mystery.

Another reference was made in 1859. Jean Joseph Etienne Lenoir, a Belgian-born French inventor built a single cylinder engine that used an electric spark to fire a mixture of kerosene and air. Detailed information about the endeavour is lacking.

Sir Oliver Lodge, a British scientist, developed an electric sparking plug in the mid-1880s and had the first financial success with the technology. A decade later his sons established the Lodge Sparking Plug Company. And in about 1900 the eccentric inventor Nikola Tesla developed an electric igniter for use in petrol engines.

But it was Albert Champion who is best known for perfecting the device, and in the process played a pivotal role in the development of the auto industry.

 Born in 1878 in Paris, France, Champion’s first employment was as a courier for a bicycle manufacturing facility. Seeing a promotional opportunity in his speed, the factory sponsored his entry in several competitions. Champion became a champion and soon, an award-winning competitive cyclist he came to the United States.

The bicycle craze of the 1890s overlapped with the development of a practical horseless carriage, and many a bicyclist, including Champion, Barney Oldfield, and Louis Chevrolet were enamored with the new transportation option and the quest for speed. And so Champion added auto racing to his resume but in 1903 he was seriously injured in the crash of the Packard Grey Wolf during an event at the track in Brighton Beach in Brooklyn, New York. He sustained a compound fracture that left one of his legs two inches shorter than the other and ended his career as a bicycle racer.

Champion made the best of the incident and while recovering in France initiated the study of mechanics and automotive engineering. As his studies progressed, he sharpened his focus and was soon working exclusively with electrical components including magnetos and seeking ways to improve them.

In 1905 he secured financing from investors, returned to the United States, and opened a small factory in Boston, Massachusetts, to manufacture a spark plug of his design and distribute imported magnetos. What made his spark plugs unique was the use of insulators made from a special clay imported from France and kiln firing. His protection of the center electrode from grounding, from engine heat, and from moisture with ceramics was an industry first.

The spark plugs soon became a favorite of auto owners and sales soared. To meet the exponentially growing demand, he established a second Champion Ignition Company factory in Toledo, Ohio.

Champion’s success was meteoritic. Shortly after establishment of General Motors in 1908, that company’s founder, William C. Durant, met with Champion and negotiated an agreement that led to Champion Ignition Company relocating to Flint, Michigan. With Durant as an investor, the company was reorganized as AC Spark Plug. As part of the arrangement, Champion was contracted as the sole provider of spark plugs and ignition components for Buick. The following year the contract was rewritten to have Champion supply these items for the entire GM line.

In late 1909, Durant initiated an ambitious plan to acquire all parts suppliers and fold them into the General Motors conglomerate. This included AC Spark Plug. Then in 1916 when Alfred P. Sloan launched an ambitious restructuring of the company, AC Spark Plugs was again reorganized as the AC Division, an independent division of GM just as was Chevrolet, Buick, Oakland, and Oldsmobile.

Sloan also expanded the scope of manufacturing at the AC Division. In addition to spark plugs and ignition components, the company began producing speedometers, ignition coils, magnetos, and automotive light bulbs.

Through all these iterations, Albert Champion had deftly ensured he was retained as the president. From that position Champion negotiated acquisition of Sphinx Sparking Plug Company, the largest spark plug manufacturer in England and the British Empire, and Oleo Company, another spark plug manufacturer in France. He also positioned the company to supply ignition components to leading aircraft manufacturers. When Charles A. Lindbergh used AC spark plugs during his historic solo flight across the Atlantic in May 1927, and as per arrangement, praised their reliability in company promotion, sales soared.

Five months later, Champion and his wife sailed to Europe on their annual vacation. It was to be a business and pleasure trip as Champion was to inspect the new AC factory opened by General Motors in Paris, France. However, the day after his arrival, during dinner with his wife, friends, and business associates at a Paris hotel, Champion collapsed and died almost instantly. An autopsy revealed the cause of death as a pulmonary embolism.

The Champion story didn’t end with his death. In 1916, Remy Electric was merged with Dayton Engineering Laboratories Company of Dayton, Ohio, to form Delco-Remy Corporation, another division of General Motors. Manufacturing at AC Division was later expanded to include Rochester carburetors. In 1971, Delco-Remy was reorganized as the United Delco Division.

Three years later GM streamlined the manufacture and distribution of parts operations and the two divisions were merged into ACDelco. Then in 1986, GM established Service Parts Operations as the umbrella for several divisions including ACDelco. Champion itself became a division of Federal-Mogul Corporation.

Champion never acquired the dubious immortality that is having a name transformed into a brand. Still, his work is at the foundation of empires that were built by Dodge, Ford, Chrysler, and Chevrolet.

Written by Jim Hinckley of jimhinckleysamerica.com

Charles Kettering - an extraordinary American inventor

This engineer, businessman, and the holder of 186 patents was the electric starter, fast-drying car paint, the world’s first cruise missile and an engine that became known as the copper-cooled calamity … plus so much more.

HIS contributions to the development of automotive technology, to education and even to medicine transformed the world.

He eliminated the need for a hand crank to start a car. He almost sank Chevrolet. He was a commonsense philosopher that espoused the benefits and value of failure - “99 percent of success is built on failure.” His was a life well lived.

Charles Franklin Kettering was born on August 29, 1876, in Loudonville, Ohio. Plagued with poor eyesight, he was a voracious reader even though this often led to blinding headaches.  

Surprisingly, even though he was well read he was only a mediocre student. Still, after graduation he accepted a teaching position at Bunker Hill School. He challenged and engaged students, encouraged them to evening scientific lectures on electricity, heat, magnetism, and gravity, and was immensely popular.

His quest for learning led him to resign from teaching and register for classes at the College of Wooster, and then Ohio State University. Resultant of his eye problems that led to almost crippling migraine headaches, he abandoned higher learning and took a job as foreman of a telephone line crew. He was a quick learner and enjoyed experimenting on his own time.

Fascinated by electricity, he again registered for classes at Ohio State University after an optometrist was able to rectify some of his vision problems. He graduated in 1904 with an electrical engineering degree and was hired directly out of school to head the research laboratory at National Cash Register.

In this position he developed a revolutionary credit approval system that would later be adapted by Diners Club, one of the first credit card companies, in 1950. In 1906 he developed a small electric motor and created the first electric cash register. During his five years of employment at NCR, from 1904 to 1909, he secured 23 patents for the company.  He attributed his success to a good amount of luck but often quipped, “I notice that the harder I work, the luckier I get.”

In 1907, his NCR colleague Edward A. Deeds, Kettering, and other NCR engineers, including Harold E. Talbott, established the “Barn Gang.” Together they would work nights and weekends in Deeds's barn to develop products or ideas to enhance everyday products. In 1909, Charles F. Kettering and Edward Deeds left NCR and established a company of their own, the Dayton Engineering Laboratories Company, known today as Delco, in Dayton, Ohio. Despite developing an array of products and acquiring patents, the company was only moderately successful. It was a tragic accident that propelled Kettering and Delco to success.

Many injuries and even deaths had occurred resultant of the hand crank used to start automobiles. Byron Carter, a prolific inventor from Jackson, Michigan that had developed bicycles and various automotive technologies, as well as the friction drive Cartercar, stopped to assist a motorist on Belle Isle near Detroit. While cranking the vehicle he was severely injured and died several days later. Henry M. Leland, an automotive engineer that had been involved with Cadillac from its inception, a friend of Carter’s, became determined to develop an electric self-starting device for automobiles. When he and his team of engineers failed, they turned to Kettering and Delco. An operational model was delivered to Leland in February 1911.

It exceeded all expectations. In addition to the electric starter the system included key operated ignition spark and as a source of current for the lighting. Leland ordered 12,000 units and the 1912 Cadillac became the first production vehicle with a modern starting and electrical system.

In 1914, Kettering became a founding partner in a company that manufactured motorcycle sidecars. The same year he launched a company to mass produce generating systems for rural farm lighting applications. This included experimentation with the use of solar power as a source of electrical generation. He also was a founding partner in the Dayton-Wright Airplane Company.

The following year he accepted a contract from the United States Army to design an unmanned "flying bomb" which could hit a target at a range 64 kilometres.  Formally called the Kettering Aerial Torpedo it was jokingly called the Kettering Bug. It was built by the Dayton-Wright Airplane Company with Orville Wright acting as an aeronautical consultant and Elmer Ambrose Sperry as assistant engineer for the design of the control and guidance system.

The innovate aircraft was powered by a two-stroke V4 40-horsepower DePalma engine mass-produced by the Ford Motor Company at a cost of $40 each. The fuselage was constructed of wood laminates and papier-mâché, and the wings were made of cardboard. The cost per unit was $400.

It was launched using a dolly-and-track system like the method used by the Wright Brothers when they made their first powered flights in 1903. It could fly at a speed of 80kmh. A small onboard gyroscope was used to guide the aircraft to its destination. The control system also used a pneumatic/vacuum system, an electric system, and an aneroid barometer/altimeter. An intricate mechanical system was devised that would track the aircraft's distance flown. Before takeoff, technicians determined the distance to be traveled relative to the air, considering wind speed and direction along the flight path, and then calculated the total number of engine revolutions needed for the Bug to reach its destination. When a total revolution counter reached this value, a cam dropped down which shut off the engine and retracted the bolts attaching the wings, which fell off. This began the ballistic trajectory into the target which ended with an impact detonation of the 82 kg payload.

In 1916 Kettering negotiated the sale of Delco to United Motors Corporation, an automotive parts and accessories company that was acquired by General Motors in 1918. Then in 1919 he accepted a position as head of the new General Motors Research Corporation in Dayton, Ohio. He would continue working for this GM division for 27 years during which he acquired 186 patents.

Kettering was also the man behind Duco, the paint that revolutionised automobile painting. Prior to Duco many automobile manufacturers hand painted cars. Still regardless of system used the drying process required days. Duco developed with Du Pont cut that time to hours.

Not all his projects were successful. “It doesn’t matter if you try and try and try again and fail. It does matter if you try and fail and fail to try again.”

In 1919 his first assignment for General Motors was to develop two air cooled engines: a four cylinder for Chevrolet and a six cylinder for Oakland that could also be used in Oldsmobile. The Oakland/Oldsmobile project was shelved, but the Chevy air cooled engine made it into production. It was an abject failure as the car tended to overheat when operating in conditions of high heat and humidity. It burned valves and bearings, and lost compression when hot.

Only 759 of these cars were built. Except for two cars, all were recalled from dealers or bought back from buyers. It was the first automotive recall in history, and it almost caused the demise of the Chevy division. 

Chevy sales had been strong since 1916 but there was no growth. An attempt to introduce a V8 engine as a Model D in 1917 proved a costly failure. During the post WWI economic recession, the Chevy division hemorrhaged cash. The air-cooled engine project exacerbated a critical situation. Only the last-minute intervention of Alfred P. Sloan prevented the Chevrolet division from being culled.

As an interesting side note, trying to resolve the problematic detonation issue of the air-cooled engine led Kettering to begin experiments with fuel. In 1921, working with General Motors engineer Thomas Midgley Jr., Kettering created a new additive which worked to reduce the “knocking” in car engines. That additive was tetraethyl lead. And that resulted in the development of leaded gasoline.

Another dubious invention that at the time was heralded as a world changing discovery was Freon gas for use as a refrigerant. Kettering also played a key role in the development of automotive safety glass, a lightweight diesel engine for application in trucks, an electric auto theft prevention system, and diesel-electrical dynamo engines for locomotives. But Kettering’s interests were not limited to cars, trucks, airplanes, and trains.

His launched research into magnetism and its use in medical imaging devices and designed an incubator for premature infants that he patented. He created a formula for synthetic aviation fuel and pioneered the mechanism for retractable aircraft landing gear. He perfected the spark plug and devised a process for extraction of bromine from sea water. He is credited with the creation of the first practical two-filament headlamp. And he established the Charles F. Kettering Foundation for medical research, partnered with Alfred Sloan to establish the Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research, and funded establishment of the Charles F. Kettering Memorial Hospital, as well as Kettering University.

Charles Kettering is an example of a life well lived. He is an inspiration. And in the modern era, he is largely a forgotten pioneer.

Written by Jim Hinckley of jimhinckleysamerica.com

Roland Conklin’s amazing land yacht

When one of the wealthiest men in America decided to take his family on a road trip he did so in grand style – with a cook, maid, driver and mechanic.

FROM the perspective of transportation, World War One was an odd blending of the past and the future.

Armies used horse cavalry as well as tanks and airplanes. Draft horses pulled artillery pieces; four-wheel-drive trucks hauled supplies.  Motorised ambulances shard the roads with pack trains of mules.

With the cessation of hostilities, recognising the need to modernise, the United States Army launched a series of initiatives with the extensive use of motorcycles, trucks, and staff cars.

One manifestation of this was a coast-to-coast convoy in the summer of 1919, testing the military’s mobility in wartime conditions. The United States’ army’s expedition consisted of 81 motorised vehicles and 302 men. They went from Washington, DC to San Francisco, a venture covering 3251 miles (5231km). One of the participants of that 62 day venture was a young Lieutenant Colonel named Dwight D. Eisenhower; a future president of the United States and the man credited with launching the interstate highway system.

The venture highlighted the poor and even antiquated condition of America’s rural roads even though there had been tremendous expenditure to modernise them. Wooden bridges had to be reinforced to support the heavy trucks. Covered bridges had the tops removed to accommodate the loaded trucks. There was deep sand, muddy quagmires. Soldiers collapsed from exhaustion after driving and pushing their vehicles for 20 miles. Tires were shredded and radiators punctured. It was a grueling endeavour.

Four years prior, before the roads had been improved, Roland R. Conklin of the Chicago Motor Bus Company, Roland Gas-Electric Vehicle Corporation, New York Motor Bus Company and Hexter Truck commissioned the construction of a luxurious land yacht that he dubbed the Gypsy Van. Then he set out on a transcontinental family outing with a cook, maid, chauffer, and mechanic.

As Conklin was one of the wealthiest men in America, the venture was newsworthy. But it was the Gypsy Van, a summer cottage on wheels of epic proportions that was the showstopper. It and the arduous journey over poor roads was described in detail in newspapers, trade journals and publications that targeted the automobilist.  

From the New York Times, August 21, 1915: “The first impressive thing about the vehicle, which Mr. Conklin calls his ‘land yacht,’ is its size. Overall, it is twenty-five feet in length, six inches longer than the Fifth Avenue buses.

“It is seven and a half feet wide and thirteen feet high. It weights between seven and eight tons without gear, filled water or fuel tanks, passengers and supplies. The size of the great automobile ceases to dominate one’s thoughts when one investigates the comprehensiveness of its equipment. It is really a house on wheels, though it runs smoothly at moderate speed.”

“As speed was not a special object, a comparatively small motor of 60 horsepower could be used, especially geared for power grades. Canvas strips for sandy sections, a knockdown, portable bridge to ford streams, and a winch operated by the motor, strong enough to pull the car out of a mudhole or ditch are special items of equipment. No such vehicle has ever been attempted before on this scale, but his experience in designing large vehicles for traffic, as the President of the New York Motor Bus Company, convinced Mr. Conklin that his idea for a double deck bus with roof top garden was practical, so he went ahead.”

 “The transmission is of the selective sliding dog type, with gears always in mesh. It is really a double-gear box, as it gives nine speeds forward and three in reverse. This unusual transmission was necessary because of the special requirements of this vehicle. It must be able to travel faster on good roads than the ordinary motor truck of similar weight and must also be able to negotiate far steeper grades and deep sand. The gear ratio on the lowest forward speed is 86 2/3 to 1, as compared with 26 to 1 on a Fifth avenue motor bus. The gear ratio of the highest speed is 8 2/3 to 1. Final drive is through worm gears. Solid tires 5x36 inches, dual on the rear, are fitted to steel wheels.”

It had a generator with electric lights and a vacuum cleaner, and storage for the motorcycle to be used in the case the chauffer had to go for assistance. There were freshwater tanks and a shower bath, folding bunks, a hideaway card table, a kitchen with electric cooking range, and bookcases, built in lockers for food, clothes, guns, fishing gear, and tools. There was even an ice box that hold 100 pounds of ice, and a fold out canvas awing.   

“As you approach the car from the back you see a wooden door, but no steps, unless you happen to recognize the folding steps of a pattern similar to that used on some of the New York surface cars. When you turn the doorknob and open the door these steps unfold easily. When you have mounted and opened the screen door you find yourself in the rear compartment, which probably combines more different functions with less waste of space than any yacht or launch cabin in existence.”

“In one side of this a folding metal wash bowl not unlike those in the washroom of a railroad parlor car. A little pull brings this basin down into its position for use. It is fed from the large water tanks on the roof. Above this basin is a water filter for drinking water, one coil of which passes through the icebox, so that chilled water of filtered quality is constantly on tap. Next to the icebox toward the front of the car is a neat porcelain kitchen sink, and near it is an electric range with several burners and a large oven. A miniature dresser with spices, sugar, flour, and the like are on the wall, and other cunningly contrived cupboards and racks hold pots and pans and a plentiful supply of cutlery.”

As luxurious and well prepared for rugged uses as the Gypsy Van was, the road conditions ensured that the odyssey was fraught with challenges. 

“Mr. Conklin and his party will take the Post Road to Albany. The route will then be through Buffalo, Chicago, Denver, Yellowstone Park, Glacier National Park, San Francisco, San Diego, and Los Angeles. The party will return to New York by steamer through the Panama Canal, leaving the van to be shipped East.”

New York Times, August 23, 1915:“The land-going yacht in which R.R. Conklin, of the Motorbus Company of New York, and a party of twelve are going from Rosemary Farm, near Huntington, L.I., to the Panama-Pacific Exposition, came near foundering on her second day out, and was obliged yesterday to send a save-our-yacht call at 4:32 P.M. to the nearest port, Briar Cliff.

“The automobile, with its kitchen, hot and cold water, beds, tables, and even a roof garden, was stuck fast in the slippery mud which lined its channel, the State road just north of Briar Cliff. Puffing contentedly, the big double-decked cross between a Fifth Avenue bus and a prairie schooner left Long Island on Saturday and proceeded on the first leg of its 5000-mile transcontinental voyage. At the last moment, a change was made in the plans, and the automobile ship steered through Briar Cliff instead of going through White Plains, as was first intended. A bridge only ten feet wide was the cause, the yacht needing but twelve as a minimum.”

Two months and more than 5000 miles later the trip was completed. A journal from the trip notes an endless array of issues and problems that resulted from road conditions; bridges unable to support the weight, mud, deep sands, washed out roads, steep grades, and fording streams. But it also details an exciting pioneering odyssey.

News stories about the trip and the amazing Gypsy Van inspired the wealthy and the innovative to create their own motorised home on wheels. The Conklin’s adventure and the military convoy, as well as Emily Post’s bestselling book, By Motor to The Golden Gate about her cross-country odyssey also inspired road trips and galvanized the Good Roads associations to action as they worked to craft a national network of modern highways.  

Written by Jim Hinckley of jimhinckleysamerica.com

‘Cannon Ball’ Baker – a true high-powered hero

He started racing bicycles … and then went into record-setting with motorbikes and cars. Ultimately, his name is remembered through an unofficial, unsanctioned car race that rebels against authority.

MANY big name start-ups in the automotive industry began with bicycles: So it went with Erwin Baker, a man who became known internationally as ‘Cannon Ball Baker.’  

Born March 12, 1882, in a tumbledown log cabin near Lawrenceburg, Indiana, Baker was a sickly youth and an indifferent student. His parents worried over his future and wondered if he might even survive into adulthood. No one could have possibly guessed that Baker would become an internationally-acclaimed celebrity who inspired countless imitators.

His family moved to Indianapolis shortly after Baker turned 12. To supplement his father’s meagre income, before he’d turned 15 birthday Baker went to work toiling in 10 hour shifts at the Indianapolis Drop Forge Company. The hard work transformed the scrawny boy into a sturdy man who craved a hearty lifestyle. In 1905 Baker joined a traveling acrobatic vaudeville act. He entertained audiences by beat punching bags with his feet while standing on his head and using his head as a battering ram to shatter various items.

To earn extra income, and to fuel his passion for the thrill, he began bicycle racing. In 1906 he purchased an Indian motorcycle and begin racing on the board track circuit. The long string of record setting finishes, and his natural talent as a showman, earned notice from Indian and in 1909, Baker was offered a position with the factory Indian motorcycle racing team. His first race as a company representative was at the inaugural event at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Aug. 14, 1909.

Conditions at the new Speedway were less than ideal. The surface of the track was crushed limestone with a thin coating of oil. It was deemed treacherous by automobile drivers. For motorcyclists accustomed to racing on surfaces of hardpacked beach sands or board tracks it had the potential to be deadly at high speeds. As an added hazard there were sharp rocks bound to destroy tires. Thirty riders entered, four finished. Baker claimed first prize. G.H. Westing Company, the sole distributor of Indian motorcycles in central Indiana, was quick to capitalise on the success with an array of advertisements.

While the rest of the factory team was board track and beach racing to promote the company, Baker was given a free hand to develop publicity events. Resultant stunts included racing passenger trains between towns. Bear in mind, these were days when roads were little more than frontier era trails pocked with mud holes and rocks.

George Hendee, co-founder, and president of Indian, was ecstatic about the publicity. In 1912, Baker was tasked with staging a promotional tour of South America. As export sales of Indian soared, the tour was deemed a success.

For Baker it was a heady adventure, a 14,000-mile cross country tour of South and Central America as well as Jamaica and Cuba. Never one to rest on his laurels, a few months after returning to the United States he became the first man to cross the United States on a motorcycle. Then he set a record for miles covered per day on a motorcycle on a ride from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, to Tijuana, Mexico.

These events sold Indian motorcycles and transformed Baker into a celebrity. In May of 1915 he moved from motorcycles to automobiles when commissioned by Harry C. Stutz, founder of the Indianapolis-based Stutz Motor Company, to drive coast to coast as a promotional stunt for the new Bearcat model.  

Stutz received a tremendous return on investment as Baker arrived in New York City after 11 days, seven hours and 15 minutes, a new record for a solo driver. Newspapers in the city proclaimed him ‘Cannonball’, a reference to a record-setting train. Baker ever the showman quickly recognized the value of the name and copyrighted it as ‘Cannon Ball.’ The following year he bested this record by four days, this time in a Cadillac.

Building on his successes, He began offering his services to other automobile manufacturers with a “no record, no money” guarantee. Nash, Lexington, Willys St. Claire, Franklin, and Graham-Paige were counted among the companies that hired Baker to boost sales through the setting of records and the subsequent garnering of headlines internationally.  

Promoters in Australia chose two cities and challenged Baker to ride between them on an Indian motorcycle. He accepted the challenges and, in each instance, set new records. For Oldsmobile, he drove a sedan coast to coast in America in high gear. In 1924, to promote Gardner automobiles, he made a North American transcontinental run in the dead of winter. To promote Rickenbacker, he started in Vancouver, British Columbia, and ended in Tijuana, Mexico. In 1928 on a run from New York to Chicago, he bested the 20th Century Limited locomotive that was promoted as the “pride of the railroad.” For Buick, he drove a two-ton truck loaded with Atlantic Ocean water to San Francisco in just under six days. Then in 1933 he established a record that stood for 40 years, a 53-hour solo drive across the United States from coast to coast.

When he was not setting records, Baker was racing. At the behest of Henry Ford, a pioneer automobile racer himself, Baker drove a Frontenac at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1922. Despite an array of mechanical and tire issues that resulted in numerous pit stops, Baker finished the 200 laps in 11th place. Not surprising, in 1948 when NASCAR was established, Baker accepted a position as commissioner.

Though his record setting days were behind him, Baker continued to race and test new cars all through the 1950s’. Then, on May 19, 1960, he collapsed from a heart attack and died at Community Hospital in Indianapolis, Indiana. The monument at Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis that towers over his grave notes that here lays Cannon Ball Baker. In 2017, an Indiana state historical marker commemorating "Cannon Ball" Baker was installed by the Indiana Historical Bureau in front of Baker's home at 902 East Garfield Drive in Indianapolis.

The most enduring homage paid to the legendary record setter was one many have heard about; the Cannonball Run. The initial Cannonball Run (named in a nod to the exploits of Cannon Ball Baker) in 1971 was more a protest of the newly implemented 55 mile per hour national highway speed limit than a race.

Organised by automotive journalist Brock Yates, at the end of the event he thought it might be a good idea to do it again and compete with other drivers, and The Cannonball Run was officially established. The full name of the race was the "Cannonball Baker Sea-to-Shining Sea Memorial Trophy Dash." Many people referred to it as the "Cannonball Dash," and it has since become most familiar as "The Cannonball Run" due to the movie series about the race.

Written by Jim Hinckley of jimhinckleysamerica.com

The glory and tragedy of the Dodge brothers' story

The death of the Dodge brothers marked the end of an era and sent shock waves through the American auto industry.

THE implications of the Spanish Flu pandemic that began its relentless march around the world in 1918, much like COVID 19 today, were far reaching.

While at the National Automobile Show in New York City in January 1920, both John and Horace Dodge became sick. There is still some debate over their illness but at the time the consensus was that they had been infected with the last wave of the devastating Spanish flu pandemic that killed more than 50 million worldwide.

As with many victims of COVID 19, on January 14, mere days after becoming ill, John was afflicted with pneumonia and died in his hotel room at the age of 55. Even though he suffered from cirrhosis of the liver, the official cause of death, Horace recovered from influenza and pneumonia but was nearly bedridden for most of a year in Florida before dying on December 10 at the age of 52.

The death of the Dodge brothers marked the end of an era and sent shock waves through the American auto industry. It also brought an end to plans to revolutionize the industry from manufacturing to sales and marketing.

The brothers epitomized the American dream of rising from humble beginnings to vast wealth. They were rough and tumble, hard drinking blue-collar men from Niles, Michigan.

John Francis was born in 1864, Horace Elgin in 1868. Their grandfathers, father and uncles were machinists. Both were mechanically inclined. John was somewhat reserved; Horace developed a reputation for a hair trigger temper.  Together the redheaded Dodge boys were an inseparable team.

The brothers never were able to move beyond their brusque blue-collar ways even with the acquisition of tremendous wealth. In 1910, the Detroit Times enhanced their reputation as brawlers with an article that detailed a wild bar room fight. John Dodge responded by first publicly apologizing to the bar owner and then paid for damages. He then threatened to kill the paper’s owner. Horace once beat a man unconscious in the street after he made fun of him for being unable to crank his Ford. The brothers were known throughout the Detroit area, as well as in Chicago and New York City, for hard drinking exploits while wearing identically tailored suits and speedboat racing.

Even though they were counted among the wealthiest men in America, they were excluded from Detroit high society. So, when the Grosse Pointe Country Club wouldn’t admit him, Horace built an enormous mansion on the adjacent property, with a 12-car garage and testing facility that faced the country club. They also funded the Detroit Symphony and led the effort to build their Symphony Hall.

The brothers began making their mark in Detroit almost as soon as John moved to the city in 1886. The following spring Horace joined him. The brothers were bright, ambitious, and hardworking, and soon John was earning $16.50 a week as a foreman and Horace $13.50 as a machinist in a boiler manufacturing company.

In 1892 they began working for an equipment manufacturer in Windsor on the Canadian side of the Detroit River. They also developed a ball bearing bicycle, the Evans and Dodge Bicycle, in the hope of profitably tapping into the tsunami of interest in the two wheeled transportation phenomena. In 1900 they established their own machine shop in Detroit. They placed an advertisement in the city directory that mirrored their confidence and ambition, “we are prepared to do any class of work that can be done in a first-class modern shop."

They soon established a reputation for quality work and within one year had secured a contract from Ransom E. Olds to supply engines for his fledgling Olds Motor Works. The brothers began supplying transmissions for the company six months later. In February 1903, the second major contract was secured. This time the customer was Henry Ford who retained their services to manufacture the running gear for his forthcoming Model A.

As this was Ford’s third attempt to launch an automotive company, and as he had a reputation of being pursued by creditors, the Dodge brothers entered the agreement with concerns that were made manifest a few months later. In June 1903, with Ford owing the brothers more than $7,000, they negotiated an arrangement that would change their lives and the course of the auto industry. They agreed to write off overdue payments and extend Ford an additional $3,000 in credit, due in six months, in exchange for ten percent of Ford Motor Company stock.

For a decade, the Dodge Brothers worked almost exclusively for Ford, and John Dodge accepted a position as vice president of the company. By 1910 their production facilities had become a bottleneck and so they opened a massive, state of the art factory complex in Hamtramck, an enclave surrounded by Detroit.

By 1913, the Dodge brothers had 2,500 full time employees and were the largest supplier of automotive parts and components in the United States. It had been a meteoric rise and the brothers were wealthier than could have been imagined when they moved to Detroit. But as John Dodge once quipped, “I'm tired of being carried around in Henry Ford's vest pocket.”

And so, the brothers initiated an ambitious 18 month plan that included suspension of their agreement with Ford, additional factory expansion, designing an automobile, and purchasing the machine tools needed for manufacture. Dodge Brothers Motor Car Company, one of one hundred and twenty automobile manufacturers launched that year, was established on July 1, 1914. The initial announcement was made in the Saturday Evening Post in August. This was followed by simple advertising and promotion designed to pique interest. "Dodge Brothers."

Then, “Dodge Brothers, Reliable, Dependable, Sound." were added. There were no illustrations or details. This was followed by carefully selected interviews and press release distribution. "The Dodge Brothers are the two-best mechanics in Michigan … When the Dodge Brothers car comes out, there is no question that it will be the best thing on the market for the money," wrote the Michigan Manufacturer and Financial Record in August.

In November, the first Dodge dealership opened in Detroit, and at the debut display of the new Dodge more than 6000 people came to see it in just one day. The five-passenger open touring car was an instant success. It had a 35-horsepower four-cylinder engine with a sales price of $785. A new Ford Model T sold for just $490 but it was rated at only 20 horsepower. And unlike the Ford, the Dodge had as standard equipment an electric starter and lights, a 12-volt electrical system, and a speedometer. The cars were also the first to use an all-steel body. Dodge Brothers manufactured everything for their new cars but the bodies, tires, glass, lights, and batteries.

The Dodge brothers had entered an extremely competitive market. An industry study determined that cars selling for $676-875 accounted for 15.5 percent of the market in 1915 and 19.8 percent in 1916.

There were 15 manufacturers competing in that narrow price range. The Dodge brothers were undaunted. They exported to nearly 50 countries and targeted a multifaceted commercial market that included aircraft companies, communication companies, ship lines, and taxi franchises.

The company was launched with 5000 employees but grew to more than 7000 within a few months. By mid-1919 there were 17,000 men and women working for Dodge Brothers in Hamtramck. Besides Ford they were also the only manufacture to hire African American workers. Other innovations included the first dedicated test track built on the factory grounds.

Like Ford, Dodge Brothers did not make annual model updates. Instead the focus was on mechanical improvements. They also added a wider range of models and commercial vehicles. It proved a recipe for success. Sales soared from just over $US11 million for the year ending June 30, 1915 to $US161 million for 1920. In that same time production had gone from 370 vehicles in 1914 to more than 145,000 in 1920.

In less than 20 years, John and Horace Dodge had built an empire. Then in 1919 their fortunes were magnified exponentially when Henry Ford bought their Ford Motor Company shares for $25 million in cash. This and the dividends cashed over the years gave the brothers a mind-boggling $32 million return on their initial investment of $10,000 in 1903. 

One can’t help but wonder what might have been. With the death of John and Horace Dodge, their widows inherited the company. But management foundered without the brothers and in 1925 financial advisors recommended that the Dodge Brothers’ widows sell their interests in the company. Three years later, Walter P. Chrysler purchased Dodge for $170 million in cash and stock options.

Written by Jim Hinckley of jimhinckleysamerica

From bicycles to automotive marvels

Alexander Winton successfully convinced the American public that automobiles were more than a passing fad.

BORN in 1860 in Grangemouth, Scotland, Alexander Winton immigrated to New York City at the age of 19.

He worked as an engineer apprentice on an ocean steamship for several years before accepting a position as superintendent at an iron factory in Cleveland, Ohio; a city was at the heart of what would soon become a tsunami of national interest in bicycles.

To capitalise on the rapidly expanding market he founded the Winton Bicycle Company in 1891 with his brother-in-law as a partner.

As bicycles became a national mania, and Winton and his partner had a head for business, the company profited almost as soon as the doors were opened. But as with many successful businessmen of the era, Winton found himself increasingly drawn to self-propelled vehicles. Winton filled every available minute with study and the reading of everything he could find on the subject and began developing his own engine designs.  Soon his company was producing bicycles as well as motorised bicycles.

Then in 1896, Winton unveiled his first “motor wagon” to the press. The following year he incorporated the Winton Motor Carriage Company. He introduced the cars with great fanfare and a drive through town to the Glenville Track where he was clocked at a then astounding 33 miles per hour. By 1898 he was selling cars and perfecting as well as promoting them through racing.

As a bit of historic trivia, one of Winton’s most notable racing losses came against Henry Ford. Ford’s success put him in the automotive spotlight and eased his ability to find needed investors for the establishment of the Henry Ford Motor Company.

There is another Henry Ford connection: Leo Melanowski, Winton’s trusted chief engineer, had proposed hiring Ford as a mechanic. Winton, however, felt that Ford lacked the temperament needed to take orders or focus on bringing a project to completion.

In 1902, Winton built the first of three custom race cars, all named the Bullet.

Bullet No.1 was the first car to win a sanctioned race at Daytona Beach, Florida. Bullet No.2 was built for the Gordon Bennett Cup in Ireland in 1903 and was one of the first eight-cylinder automobiles built.

As a result of mechanical issues, this car did not complete the race. However, after being brought back to the United States and repaired, Barney Oldfield drove it to a near-record of 80mph at Daytona. Before retiring from racing Winton retired built a Bullet No.3. Oldfield toured the country with that car and launched an award-winning racing career that would span decades.  

Aside from racing, Winton used practical application as a promotional platform. In 1897, Winton and William Hatcher, shop superintendent, drove from Cleveland to New York City with tremendous media attention. In 1899 he made a second trip with Charles Shanks, a Cleveland Plain Dealer reporter as a passenger and sales soared with 100 vehicles finding buyers by the end of the year.

Not all the customers were satisfied. James Ward Packard purchased a vehicle in 1898 and broke down several times on the way home. In a heated argument with Winton, Packard was told that if he thought he could build a better automobile he should do so. The challenge was accepted and the Packard Automobile Company was born.

In 1901, Winton set his sights on an unprecedented adventure that would also ensure international media focus on his automobiles. With Charles Shanks on board to cover the odyssey, Winton proposed a coast-to-coast drive of the United States, the first by automobile.

The ill-fated venture left San Francisco with great promise but ended abruptly on the east side of the Sierra Nevada mountains.

Shanks wrote: “That the expedition failed is no fault of the machine Mr. Winton used, nor was it due to absence of grit or determination on the part of the operator. Neither was the failure due to roads. The utter absence of roads was the direct and only cause.”

Dr. H Nelson Jackson triumphed where Winton had failed and became the first to cover the distance, in 1903. As Jackson was driving a Winton, the company benefitted mightily from the endeavor. Sales soared to 850 cars in 1903, and 1100 by 1907.

Winton quickly developed a reputation for inventiveness and generosity. Over the course of his career he would develop, and patent more than one hundred items related to automobiles, engines, and bicycles. Indicative of his character, he offered his safety related patents for free to interested manufacturers.

Winton continued building cars through 1924 with innovations like a steering wheel in 1901, shaft drive, external and internal brakes on the same brake drum, and the first American diesel engine in 1913. The post WWI economic recession struck the auto industry hard and even pioneering companies such as Winton were not spared. Sales plummeted and in 1922, Winton issued a statement that the company was “financially embarrassed.” In 1923 there was a stillborn initiative to merge Winton with Haynes and Dorris. On February 11, 1924, Winton closed the automobile company and initiated liquidation.

However, he continued operation of a subsidiary company, the Winton Gas Engine and Manufacturing Company, that manufactured marine and diesel engines. The company prospered into the early years of the Great Depression before being sold to General Motors.

In the pantheon of automotive pioneers Winton is in good company, as he is but one of many that has been relegated to obscurity. Still, one can’t help but ponder what the world would be like today if Winton hadn’t added a motor to a bicycle, selected a steering wheel rather than the traditional tiller or perfected the diesel engine.

Written by Jim Hinckley of jimhinckleysamerica.com

Style leader from small beginnings

 Auburn made numerous pioneering contributions and was known for innovation, style and performance.

 IN 1900, Frank and Morris Eckhart saw merit in making automobiles. With funding from their father, Charles, they established the Auburn Automobile Company that year.

The initial product was an assembled car built with parts sourced from an array of companies. The assembly process took place in a corner of the carriage company factory, whose craftsman built the wood framing for the bodies.

Nothing much came from their enterprise until the brothers displayed a car at the 1903 Chicago Auto Show. That put them into the spotlight.

By 1909 the brothers were successful enough to absorb two local automobile manufacturers and relocate production to a larger facility in 1909. The company enjoyed moderate and steady sales growth until the First World War, a shortage of materials dramatically curtailed manufacturing.

For investors and in media interviews the brothers painted a rosy picture, but the truth is that the company was in serious financial trouble. In 1919, on the cusp of bankruptcy, the company was sold to a group of Chicago investors that included William Wrigley Jr., the chewing gum mogul. Still, the company languished result of the economic recession, dated styling and a limited dealer network.

By 1924 only six cars a day were rolling from the factory and yet there was a surplus of unsold cars that was growing. Then to salvage something from their investment, the board of directors turned to E.L. Cord, the Chicago whiz kid that had transformed the St. Louis-based Moon from a moribund automobile manufacturing company to solvency.

After evaluating the operation Cord accepted the position of general manager at Auburn in exchange for a modest salary, stock options, and the option of buying controlling interest in the company.

His first step? Add nickel trim and repaint unsold stock. Then he cut the wholesale price but added an options list and hosted an auto show for area dealers on the town square.

He offered the dealers huge discounts and, within a few months, had sold off his overstock. As the log jam of unsold inventory began to move, in 1925 he contracted with Lycoming for eight-cylinder engines that were then installed in the formerly six-cylinder Auburns. This as well as a slight tweak to the bodies to present a more streamlined appearance and two-tone paint options led to a dramatic increase in sales.

Incredibly by 1926, Auburn was not only a profitable company, it was also counted among the top 20 manufacturers in the United States; no mean feat as there were dozens of automobile companies in operation at the time.

Rather than rest on his laurels, Cord hired Alen Leamy and Gordon Buehrig, cutting edge young automotive designers, and entered a limited partnership with the Duesenberg Company that had limited production of high-performance automobiles. He also established an extensive nationwide dealer network with a focus on select cities.

Cord used the Duesenberg association as the cornerstone for building a diverse industrial empire that included a new line of performance-oriented luxury cars. He incorporated some of these features into the L-29 Cord, the American automobile industry’s first successful front wheel drive car. Then with acquisition of controlling interest in Duesenberg, he shifted into high gear even though the economy was beginning to falter.

In 1928, the Auburn 8-115 was introduced with hydraulic rather than mechanical brakes. These cars were used to establish Auburn’s reputation for speed, performance, and luxury at the price of a Buick. At Daytona that year the Auburn 8-115 was driven to a speed record of 108.46 miles per hour.

The resultant media attention and a brilliant marketing strategy resulted in 1929 being the best year yet for the Auburn Automobile Company. Dealers clambered for cars and production was unable to meet demand even though manufacturing facilities were expanded.

Using the profitable company as leverage, Cord began acquiring companies to streamline operations, diversify income streams, and lessen the company’s dependence on other manufacturers. He purchased or acquired controlling interest in Stinson Aircraft, Anstead Engine Company, Lycoming, Limousine Auto Body, Duesenberg Motors, and Columbia Axle Company. He also expanded into the commercial market by introducing the Auburn Saf-T-Cab, a car purpose built as a taxi. This led to a limited partnership with Checker Cab Manufacturing Company.

  Even thought the economic situation had deteriorated dramatically, and automobile sales had plummeted, in 1932 two new Auburns were introduced, the eight cylinder Model 8-100 and the astounding Model 12 series with V-12 engines at an incredible price of just $975 for the coupe. And as an option, a Columbia dual ratio rear axle was available. For promotion, a fully loaded Auburn Twelve Speedster set several speed records at Muroc Dry Lake, many of which stood until the late 1940s.

Even though sales and profits were plummeting precipitously at the end of 1932 the Auburn 851, a boat tail speedster designed by Gorden Beurig, with a Lycoming straight eight engine and a Schwitzer-Cummins supercharger was introduced. The car was sold with a written guarantee of 100 miles per hour and a plaque on the dash stating that the car had been tested to that speed by Indianapolis 500 driver Abe Jenkins. About 500 of these stunning Auburns were built and sold for $2,245. Still, the company lost money on each car sold as it had been conceived to get buyers into the showroom with the hope of selling them one of the cheaper Auburns. Initially the scheme was a success as sales of Auburn increased by 20 percent, but overall sales had declined by nearly 60 percent since 1929.

To stave off impending collapse, a six-cylinder model was introduced in 1935, initial development of a proposed diesel-powered limousine for 1936 was launched and production of the V-12 and the straight eight were cut. Then precious resources were diverted to the now legendary 810 and 810 Cords. As a result, the last Auburns rolled from the factory in 1936 with little fanfare.

Under investigation from the Securities and Exchange Commission, largely resultant of a questionable partnership with Checker Cab Manufacturing, and the Internal Revenue Service resultant of accounting practices, Cord sold his interest in Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg. On August 7, 1937, the Auburn Automobile Company went out of business and assets were liquidated. In the grand scheme of things, it was a small loss for Cord as at this time he was one of the richest men in the world. He owed airlines, aircraft companies, communication companies, ship lines, and other businesses including taxi franchises.

The Auburns that have survived into the modern era are treasured and revered. When equipped with the Columbia two speed axle, they blend modern road manners with classic car styling and luxury making them an ideal touring car for the modern enthusiast.

Written by Jim Hinckley

Film star, inventor – automotive pioneer

She proposed the turning indicator, electric windscreen wiper and stopping alert on a car and never made a cent from these breakthroughs.

FLORENCE Lawrence was a very unusual woman, to say the very least.

One of the first superstars of the silver screen she also became a passionate automobilist as well as an accomplished mechanic.

And if that wasn’t enough to ensure that she was a media sensation in an era when women in America were not allowed to vote and the Jaxon was promoted as ‘a car so easy to drive, a child or woman could operate it’, she also became an inventor who contributed to the early evolution of the automobile.  

The swirling mists of time have obscured much of her early history. Lawrence was born in Ontario, Canada sometime between 1886 and 1890. Her father, George Bridgwood, worked as a carriage builder and her mother, Charlotte, was a vaudeville and stage performer that used the professional name Lotta Lawrence. So, it was only natural that Florence would join her mother on stage and become an important part of the Lawrence Dramatic Company.

With the advent of the motion picture, Florence Lawrence transitioned from the stage and made her film debut in 1906. Early studios often refused to put actors’ names in the credits, especially women. Nonetheless she quickly became a familiar face to a legion of fans and soon the media had dubbed her the “The Biograph Girl” as she was working for Biograph Studios. Her career spanned decades and the film credits included more than 300 motion pictures.

As her fame soared so did her income and soon, she was earning an astounding $500 per week. Now she was wealthy enough to afford an automobile, something she had become enamored with after a friend provided her with an exhilarating ride through the countryside. She often noted that driving provided her with an unbridled sense of excitement and of freedom. After ownership of a succession of ever more powerful automobiles, in 1912 she purchased a Lozier.

Since 1907 this company had been establishing a reputation for speed and endurance. Over the course of a four-year period cars built by Lozier had been driven in every major race in the United States and several in Europe. No other car of the era broke as many records for speed, for 24-hour endurance runs or for long distance touring without mechanical failure.

All of this came with a price. As an example, Lawrence’s six-cylinder Knickerbocker Berlin model carried a factory list price of $US6500. As the beautiful starlet performed much of her maintenance and repairs, and often took long drives unaccompanied by mechanic or driver, she was a popular focus of interviews and news stories.

After a friend was severely injured in an accident, Lawrence began giving thought to ways for improving automotive safety. In 1914 she devised an innovative mechanism that signaled turns to trailing drivers. With the simple push of a button, a flag was raised and lowered on the rear bumper of the automobile to inform other drivers what direction the car was turning. Next, she developed an ingenious device to alert drivers of a pending stop. When she depressed the brake, a small sign reading “stop” would pop up at the rear of the car.

Unfortunately, she failed to patent any these developments. Likewise, with another that she developed in 1916, the first electric windshield wiper. Even without the patent she prospered from the invention by establishing the Bridgwood Manufacturing Company for the manufacture and distribution of the wiper motors as well as other aftermarket items. As other companies began producing the wiper motor, Lawrence’s mother would try to remedy the patent oversight, but it was too late.

In the late 1920s her movie career was, for the most part, over. After suffering severe burns while attempting to save an actor in a studio fire, and extensive surgeries, she found herself more and more relegated to working as an extra or making step on appearances.

Still, Lawrence maintained an active interest in automobiles and automotive development and invested heavily in various companies including the manufacturers of automobiles as well as parts. And she continued developing aftermarket components such as a radio antenna that could be installed under the running board for Bridgwood Manufacturing Company and established a makeup company. With the crash of the stock market in 1929, and the onslaught of the Great Depression, her companies were forced into bankruptcy and Lawrence was financially devastated. Tragically on December 28, 1938, Lawrence committed suicide.

Lawrence was not the only woman to contribute to the embryonic auto industry. In 1902, Mary Anderson was visiting New York City and became increasingly frustrated as the trolley driver was continuously stopping to clear snow from the front windows. Shortly after returning home to Alabama she designed and patented a hand operated blade that would clear the window without leaving the trolley. Soon numerous automobile manufacturers began offering a “windshield wiper” as an option or as standard equipment.

In 1924, Marie Luhring made history by becoming the first female truck designer when she was hired by Mack Trucks. She also became one of the first woman to join the Society of Automotive Engineers.

Raymond Loewy was an automotive designer of renown. He was also a progressive visionary as evidenced by his hiring of Helen Dryden and Audrey Moore Hodges for the design studio at Studebaker. Nash was another progressive company. They hired Helen Rother Ackerkncoht at assist with development of streamlined bodies. The functional artistry of the 1941 Hudson instrument panel was the creation of Betty Thatcher.

Today Lawrence and her many accomplishments, as well as those of Helen Rother, Marie Luhring and Mary Anderson are less than historic footnotes. But they are only a few of the woman who contributed to the evolution of the automobile, and yet today are largely forgotten.

Written by Jim Hinckley of jimhinckleysamerica.com

The age of the cyclecar

The purpose was to fill a gap in the market between the motorcycle and the car; placing the engine of the first into a construct used by the second. It was a budget experience that bloomed … for a while.

Without a doubt the most intriguing manifestations of the cyclecar in the United States manifested from the fertile imagination of James Scripps-Booth.

IT was an interesting concept, a vehicle that bridged the gap between the automobile and the motorcycle.

 For a time during the early to mid-teens, it was an international fad that launched hundreds of manufacturing endeavours.

 And then in an instant the entire movement became less than an historical footnote. Yet in a way it was a glimpse of the future, the post WWII years when microcars would enjoy popularity, especially in Europe.

As understood at the time, the term cyclecar was in reference to a vehicle with a single cylinder or V-twin engine. They were often air cooled, carried one or two people, had open air light weight bodies, and had two or three wheels. They were born of taxation, especially in Europe, that provided a sizable discount for registration and license of cars with engines under a certain displacement.

 The first cycle cars appeared in 1910. By 1912 they were popular enough to justify Temple Press’s investment in a new magazine, The Cyclecar, on the 27th of November. Also, in that year the Cyclecar Club, forerunner of the British Automobile Racing Club was established.

 But truly indicative of the diminutive car’s popularity are the explosion in manufacturers. As an example, in 1911 the number of cyclecar manufacturers was less than a dozen in Britain and in France. By 1914, there were over 100 manufacturers in each country, as well as others in Germany, Austria, and other European countries, and in the United States.

 Even though the cyclecar was a niche market of the burgeoning automobile industry, especially in the United States where the consumer was already beginning to show affection for larger vehicles, more than one automotive pioneer invested in the idea.

 Benjamin Briscoe had been involved with the auto industry almost from the beginning. As a Detroit sheet metal manufacturer, he had supplied materials for body construction to Ransom Olds, Henry Ford and a multitude of automotive pioneers. He was the initial money man behind David Buick and had partnered with Jonathan Maxwell to create Maxwell-Briscoe. After an ill-planned venture to create a General Motors styled company that led to the collapse of Maxwell-Briscoe, he turned his attentions to European automobile companies. This led to Briscoe’s role in the cyclecar fad.

On his return to the United States, Briscoe purchased the manufacturing facilities of the defunct Standard Electric Car Company in Jackson, Michigan. After acquiring investors, he launched the Argo Motor Company in early 1914 to manufacture an American version of the Ajax, a car Briscoe and his brother had produced in France. Even in 1914, the customer could not expect much of a car for a mere $295, but the Argo was a surprise.  

Essentially this was a luxury version of the diminutive cyclecar. It was a 12-horsepower two-passenger roadster with a four-cylinder water cooled engine, shaft drive, sliding gear transmission that had 44-inch tread and weighed a mere 750-pounds.

For, Briscoe it proved to be a short-lived endeavour. In 1916 he radically transformed the Argo into a more traditional car, and then sold the company to Mansell Hackett. Hackett had built a profitable business buying and liquidating bankrupt automobile manufacturing companies. He continued producing the Argo for two more years alongside the Hackett, a car built from a hodgepodge of parts.

Without a doubt the most intriguing manifestations of the cyclecar in the United States manifested from the fertile imagination of James Scripps-Booth. His first vehicle debuted in 1912. A feature article about the car appeared in The Automobile under a headline that read, “Detroit Man Designs Strange Vehicle.”

The headline was an understatement as the BiAutogo was unlike any vehicle built before or since. It was a two-wheeled, two passenger vehicle with two stabilizing wheels like a bicycles training wheels that could be raised or lowered with a lever in the drivers cockpit.

It was powered by a 45-horsepower V8 engine, the first to be manufactured in Detroit. It had a compressed air starter and four speed transmission. The chain drive enclosure was incorporated into the body. But what people found most striking was the bright red paint and a cooling system that consisted of 450-feet of copper tubing that flowed from the hood and along both sides. Scripps-Booth spent $25,000 building the prototype, and then decided not to manufacture the oddity.

This was not the case with the Rocket, a tandem seat cyclecar. Power was produced through an air cooled Spacke manufactured vee-twin. The car had a wheelbase of 100 inches, and tread 36 inches. It was belt driven with a two-speed transmission and sold for $395. Four hundred cars were produced before the fad began to pass on the US side of the Atlantic. And so, Scripps-Booth turned his attention to the manufacture of a more conventional automobile, at least in appearance.

By 1920 the cyclecar craze was on the fast track to becoming an historic footnote. Today it is a nearly forgotten chapter. And the Argo and the Rocket, the National and Nebraska, Daisy and Fifty-Fifty cyclecars that have survived into the 21st century are revered and treasured. They are tangible links to a brief time in automobile manufacturing history when smaller was better.

Written by Jim Hinckley of jimhinckleysamerica.com

Remembering C Harold Wills

He was known for an infectious and boundless energy, a sharp mind and a profound ability to transform ideas into reality.

A Wills Saint Clair 1921 Roadster

THE pantheon of men and women who played a role in putting the word on wheels at the dawning of the 20th century is lengthy.

A select few such as Henry Ford, John and Horace Dodge, Louis Chevrolet and Charles Nash were awarded a dubious form of immortality as brand names. Others have faded into obscurity with the passing of time. Counted among the latter is C. Harold Wills.

Wills was known for infectious and boundless energy, a sharp mind, and a profound ability to transform ideas into reality. His mother was an avid fan of the writings of Lord Byron, specifically Childe Harold's Pilgrimage.

Childe Harold Wills despised his name and insisted that instead people use his first initial. His father was well known in Fort Wayne, Indiana as a railroad master mechanic, and began teaching his son the use of tools almost as soon as he could walk, according to stories told by Wills. At age 17 his four-year apprenticeship with the Detroit Lubricator Company commenced. In the evenings he took night courses and studied metallurgy, mechanical engineering, and chemistry. With completion of his studies he accepted a position with the Burroughs Adding Machine Company and by age 23 was employed as the company’s chief engineer.

Fortuitously in 1902 he was introduced to Henry Ford. Intrigued by Ford’s work with the building of a performance cars, Wills began assisting at nights with two legendary race cars, the 999 and the Arrow. This relationship would last seventeen years before ending in a heated argument.

As Ford’s principal shop assistant Wills’ first major contribution drew upon his metallurgical training as he worked on a means to produce lightweight, strong, nickel-chrome vanadium steel in volume. A relentless search to find a mill that would work with him led to a small company in Canton, Ohio. The new lightweight but strong steel was used in production of the 1907 Model N. He was also a major contributor to development of the Model T as it was Wills that conceived and developed its planetary transmission. As a curious historic note, he was an amateur calligrapher and designed the now legendary Ford script.

By WWI Wills and Ford's relationship was strained. Time and again Ford had claimed credit for his work and Charles E. Sorensen was hired as Ford’s right hand man. In 1919, to strengthen his hold on the company Ford began buying out shareholders. This included the Dodge brothers (John Dodge had served as the vice president of Ford). Rather than meekly submitting to Ford’s power grab Wills threatened legal action if a full accounting of the accrued profit-sharing income owed was not completed. With more than $5 million in his pocket Wills parted ways with Ford. He also had nearly $4 million from investment in steel companies that he had persuaded to produce vanadium steel.

Wills had long toyed with the idea of manufacturing an automobile of his own design. But he was a dreamer, a visionary and launching an automobile company was but one component in a much larger plan for the future. In 1920, he initiated plans to build an automobile manufacturing factory that was to be the anchor in an industrial park as well as a planned housing community for employees that included a park, schools and a complete business district with theater.

The car was named Wills Sainte Claire, after the St. Clair River that separated Marysville, Michigan from Ontario, Canada. The fatal flaw in Wills planned automotive empire was an absolute obsession to create a mechanically perfect automobile. Resultant of that attention to detail, the Wills Sainte Claire introduced in 1921 stunned the automotive community. The car was powered by the industry’s first overhead-cam V-8 designed for automotive use. It had a displacement of 265.4 cubic inches and that was rated at 67-horsepower. That engine was a refined version of an overhead valve V-8 engine Wills had designed for aeronautical application during WWI. The engine made extensive use of molybdenum steel, had crossflow induction and exhaust routing, and the block and cylinder heads were cast as a single unit.

The car was doomed from its inception. It debuted with a $3,000 price tag in the midst of a post war reception that had decimated automobile sales. As a comparison, a comparable Cadillac could be purchased for $2,800. Mechanical complexity equaled a high cost of repairs. Still, Wills had realistic expectation and set his breakeven point as 1,500 cars annually. The first year’s production was a mere 900 cars. Anemic sales, and Wills near constant improvements to the manufacturing facility and the cars fueled mounting losses. Even eye-catching plaid paint jobs were not enough to keep the company solvent and in 1927 production ceased. Only 12,000 cars were manufactured under the Wills Sainte Claire name.

Wills was out but not finished. He signed on with Ruxton to assist with development of a transmission for the front wheel drive automobile. He then went to work at Chrysler as a metallurgist. Unfortunately, his attempts to sell or collect royalties under a limited license arrangement for a patented process for production of all steel body shells were unsuccessful. Both Ford and General Motors deemed the process cost prohibitive and continued using wood framing for their vehicles. The smaller independent companies such as Hudson, Packard, Studebaker and Nash could ill afford the investment either, especially amidst the economic troubles of the Great Depression.

Interestingly enough, Wills patents expired in 1937, the year that Ford and GM introduced their first all steel bodied automobiles. It was the final chapter in an amazing automotive career. In the closing days of 1940, Wills suffered a major stroke and was rushed to the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. He died there before the dawn of the new year.

C. Harold Wills, a forgotten automotive pioneer.

Written by Jim Hinckley of jimhinckleysamerica.com

Henry Leland: The genius of precision

He came into the automotive industry late in his lifetime, but in that short span of years founded two of America’s most storied automotive brands.

A 1922 Lincoln … the brand was renowned as a producer of well-crafted luxury product.

“THERE is a right way and a wrong way to do something. Hunt for the right way and then go ahead.”

That was a favourite saying of Henry Leland, a truly gifted machinist, a mechanical engineer with vision and an obsessive perfectionist. It was a winning combination during the dawning of the American auto industry.

Born in 1843, Leland earned engineering degrees from the Universities of Michigan and Vermont and studied precision machining in the Brown and Sharpe plant at Providence, Rhode Island and Colt, the firearm manufacturer.

During the American Civil War, he worked as a toolmaker in the United States Arsenal. His first forays as an inventor, first with electric barber clippers and then with a unique toy train, the Leland-Detroit Monorail proved financially lucrative.

In 1890 Leland moved to Detroit and established Leland and Faulconer Manufacturing Company to build marine and stationary engines. The company soon established a reputation for quality, innovation, and precision engineering, and by the turn of the century, was also making engines for automotive application. Counted among the company’s ardent supporters was Ransom E. Olds, who had hired the company to design an engine for the Olds in 1902.

By the dawning of the new century Leland found himself embarking on a new business endeavor as financiers and bankers retained his services to appraise the assets of moribund companies that manufactured automobiles and automotive components. In 1902, he was hired to appraise the assets of the Henry Ford Company and to create a plan for making the company viable. The company namesake, Henry Ford, was incensed and left the business taking several partners with him. Leland seized the opportunity.

A devastating fire at Olds Motor Works had led to termination of his arrangement with that company. It also left him with a single cylinder engine designed for automotive application.

After appraising the company’s assets, he suggested that the investors should reorganize, use the chassis designed by Henry Ford and the engine Leland had designed for Oldsmobile. Hoping to cut their losses, and perhaps even turn a profit, the investors agreed. The new company was named for Cadillac, the French explorer that had established Fort Detroit.

Leland established unprecedented manufacturing principles that soon became industry standards. He and Ransom Olds had used interchangeable components on several vehicles but on the 1907 models of Cadillac, Leland took the concept of uniform parts to an entirely new level. The idea had originated with firearms manufacturing. Eli Whitney had displayed the advantages of interchangeable musket parts at an exhibition before the president of the United States in 1801.

On Saturday, February 29, 1908, three Model Ks were randomly selected from the stock of the Anglo-American Motor-car Company, the British agent for Cadillac automobiles. The three cars were driven 25 miles to the Brooklands racetrack and then completed 10 laps of the track, approximately 30 miles. Under strict supervision the cars were locked away until Monday, March 2, 1908. Then before an audience of reporters, mechanics, engineers, automotive enthusiasts and automobile agents, the cars were displayed and fully disassembled. Each car was reduced to a pile of 721 component parts that were scrambled into one heap. Next Cadillac mechanic E. O. Young began reassembling the cars with the help of his assistant, M. M. Gardner. By Thursday morning, March 12, the third car was completed. The following day they were all driven 500 miles.

On completion of this test, one of the cars was locked away until the start of the 2000-miles reliability trials in June, 1908. That car finished in first place and was awarded the R.A.C. Trophy for its class. Cadillac was deemed the Standard of the World.

In 1910, Leland began working with Charles Kettering to develop an improved electrical system. Two years later Cadillac became the first company to offer an electric starter and lights as standard equipment. But the company had been acquired by William Durant in 1909, and folded into the General Motors combine, and that proved to be a turning point for Leland’s association with Cadillac.

Durant had an abrasive and overbearing personality that had become his trademark. In late 1916, after a heated discussion about Durant’s refusal to accept a government contract for the manufacture of aircraft engines, Leland left the company. In the years that followed, Charles Nash, Walter Chrysler and others would also leave General Motors after disagreements with Durant.

And so, Leland and his son Wilfred formed a company for the manufacture of Liberty Aircraft engines in 1917. It was named for the first president Leland had cast a vote for in 1864, Abraham Lincoln. As testimony to Leland’s reputation he received the government contract to produce 6000 engines without review. But before full production could commence, the Armistice was declared, and the contract voided. This left the Leland’s deeply in debt and with a huge factory as well as a workforce of nearly 6000 men.

And so, the decision was made to shift to automobile manufacturing. Again, Leland’s reputation proved to be a valuable commodity as the initial $6.5 million capital stock offering for Lincoln Motor Company sold in less than three hours. Without a single car being produced, trade journals and automotive journals praised the Lincoln based solely on Leland’s plans for the vehicle.

Leland’s obsession with detail and extensive testing resulted in a near continuous string of delays. As a result, the new Lincoln debuted in September 1920 amid a severe economic recession and nine months after the cars planned release. Mechanically it was a technological masterpiece, powered by a 60 degree V8 engine. Seventy mile per hour speeds were guaranteed. Innovations included circuit breaker electrical system, full pressure lubrication, thermostatically controlled radiator shutters, and a sealed cooling system with condenser tank.  Prices ranged from $4500 for the Town Car to $6000 for the roadster.

The cars mechanical prowess was proven almost immediately. In April 1921, a Lincoln was driven to a first-place finish in race from Los Angeles to Phoenix. The second-place finisher arrived almost an hour later. But technological advancement, performance, and ecstatic press was not enough to overcome the delayed debut and the resultant company debt, the economic recession, the high sales price and dated styling. A mere 674 cars were sold in 1920, and 2800 in 1921.

In November 1921, the company was forced into receivership. As a touch of dark irony, the company was acquired for $8 million dollars by Henry Ford. The Leland’s were retained as consultants, and Edsel Ford was installed as president. It proved to be a short association as the company’s founders left within four months and initiated litigation to force Ford to reimburse original creditors and stockholders.

Leland’s last act was pure class. In 1931, as the ongoing legal battle with Ford continued, he wrote letters to the former stockholders, parts suppliers, and investors, and personally apologized for the fact that Ford had not compensated them as promised. He died in March of 1932.

It was truly the end of an era. Leland’s career had spanned the period between the beginnings of the industrial age to the mass production of automobiles. He had made contributions to manufacturing, to the automobile industry, to barbershops, to children’s toys and to business management. He had launched an automotive empire that would come to symbolize prestige and luxury. Leland’s contributions transformed our world. 

  To read more by Jim Hinckley go to jimhinckleysamerica.com

 

Edel’s grand adventure was no smooth run

It was the ultimate roadie … at a time when there were not always roads.

The adventurers took a a variety of vehicles but, of course, for Edsel there could be but one choice: the Model T

EDSEL Ford’s odyssey in the summer of 1915 might seem as epic as the voyages of Captain James Cook.

What the son of the great Henry Ford and his college buddies H. V. Book, Thomas Whitehead, William Russel, J. H. Caulkins Jr. and Robert Gray Jr. embarked on was a great road trip, right across the heartland of America, from Michigan to California.

This was no easy drive. After all, the first transcontinental trip by automobile had occurred a mere 12 years prior. Many companies, including Studebaker, were still manufacturing horse-drawn vehicles. In Arizona, a state that was only three years old in 1915, stagecoaches were still in use in rural areas. It would be 1936 before there was a single highway that was paved across the entire United States.   

Technically it was a business trip. The Shell Oil Company of California was a partial sponsor and in exchange they were given a promotional boost, especially with limited publication of Souvenir Transcontinental Tour: Detroit to San Francisco June 17, 1915 to July 25, 1915 after the trip. For Ford Motor Company it was also a promotional opportunity. Additionally, Edsel was unofficially tasked with the chore of evaluating Ford agencies along the way.

Cross country trips by automobile were still somewhat of a novelty. Still, Edsel and his buddies were not alone on their trip to the Panama Pacific Exposition in California. Event organisers noted that in 1915 tens of thousands of people arrived from outside the state, some by train but many came by automobile. Even though the exposition was held in San Francisco, many travelers chose to follow a southern route along the National Old Trails Road. Then as now, and in the era of Route 66, this course was the portal to the very best of the great southwest, Grand Canyon, Painted Desert, Oak Creek Canyon, Petrified Forest to name but a few attractions.

Edsel and Henry Ford with a V8 in 1934.

As the sons of very wealthy families Edsel Ford and his friends did not lack for funds as evidenced by their vehicles. Edsel had a new Ford outfitted with wire wheels instead of the standard wooden spoke wheels. Book and Gray started the trip in a new eight-cylinder Cadillac. Russel had a new Stutz. They had new camping gear, tools and even traveled with a portable phonograph.

The travel journal entry for Thursday, June 17, 1915, provides a glimpse of travel by automobile in 1915, and the troubles faced by Edsel and his friends. “Encountered some mud in vicinity of Saline. Ford had puncture and blow out on both rear wheels. Roads good but dusty.” The following days troubles included the Stutz running out of gas, and a couple of flat tires on the Ford. The latter led to Edsel’s purchase of hand tire pump, and a pocket lamp that ran off the magneto for night work.

On the 19th, the group managed to travel a mere 85 miles. The Stutz required roadside repair after dirt clogged the vacuum pump. The Ford became mired in the mud just 18 miles after departure, and when it would not budge with use of the block and tackle, a farmer with team was hired. Then the Ford skidded on wet pavement and broke spokes in a rear wheel.   

Even though the entries are concise, Edsel’s travel journal provides fascinating insight into the times; real world reports on the durability of certain automobile brands, on travel, on people adapting to changing times, and on a world in a rapid state of transition. “Wigwam Ranch, Colorado, Thursday July 1 – Took one hour to go four miles up long steep hill. Had to remove all superfluous weight from car such as cushions, tent, baggage, and tools. Had to carry items up by hand.”

“Williams, Arizona, Thursday July 15 – All got supplies at garage. Talked to Ford agent. Bought some gas and oranges at Seligman. Stutz broke another spring about 15 miles out and returned to Seligman. Very rough and dusty roads. Wired Los Angeles for axle parts. Day’s run 146 miles.”

“Needles, California, Saturday July 17 – Started west at 6:15 P.M. in procession of eight cars – a Jeffrey, two Fords, two Chalmers, two Stutz and a Cadillac. Thirty miles out Chalmers broke a spring. Roads in desert were fair. Stopped for midnight lunch. Played phonograph, fixed a tire. Stopped at Ludlow for gas.”

Judging by Edsel’s trip the Ford was far better suited for the grueling road conditions than the Stutz, but not as well as the Cadillac. The Stutz was plagued with a litany of problems large and small. There is no mention of issues with the Cadillac aside from tires. The Ford suffered a series of mechanical failures, not surprisingly. Some were serious but the ease of repair hints at the reasons for the popularity of the legendary Model T.   

“Dodge City, Kansas, Saturday June 26 – Had excellent lunch in Syracuse. Afterwards went to examine peculiar noise in transmission; found universal joint housing broken. Bought new one at Ford agent and installed it at the café.” “Camp near St. John, Arizona, Friday July 9 – Took car to garage in Holbrook. Had rods tightened and rear axle examined. Found chewed up ring gear and pinion. Back on the road by 1:00 P.M.” “Flagstaff, Arizona, Saturday July 10 – Found friends with Stutz at hotel. Had left them in Albuquerque as Stutz had to be shipped by rail.” 

Edsel and his friends had a grand adventure. I am confident that they talked of it often in the years that followed. Surely the trip also provided Edsel with valuable insight into the shortcomings of the Ford, and how it could be improved. Unfortunately, it didn’t provide him with the ability to buck his famous father, and so cars such as the six cylinder Ford designed by Edsel in the late teens was stillborn.

Automotive travel journals and guidebooks, as well as newspaper and magazine features written in the first decades of the 20th century are more than mere time capsules. They are fascinating windows into a world in a dramatic state of transition and a glimpse at how our now revered vintage cars were driven when still new. If you have interest in these wonderful stories, I have two great books to recommend.

The first is Motoring West: Automobile Pioneers 1900 – 1909. This book is a compilation of articles, travel journals and factory sponsored features that together present a multifaceted picture of automobile travel in the American west in an era when roads were little more than trails.

The second book was a best seller when first published in 1916. Now being reprinted, By Motor To The Golden Gate by Emily Post is an illustrated chronicle of the odyssey that she made by automobile from coast to coast.

 To read more by Jim Hinckley go to jimhinckleysamerica.com

Going with … and against … the flow

Carl Breer and fellow Chrysler engineers initiated a series of wind tunnel tests, in cooperation with Orville Wright – yes, THE Orville Wright one - to study efficient shapes for automotive bodies.

TESLA’S Cybertruck is the latest manifestation of Elon Musk’s eccentric genius and  sense of vision.

There is, however, a question. Is a vehicle described by one leading magazine as looking as if were “dropped off by an alien race” a glimpse of the future or was it just a manifestation of eccentricity that with the passing of time will be relegated to historical curiosity?

In 1934, during the depths of the Great Depression, a vehicle that was just as futuristic made its debut and the reviews were even less favorable. And it was also a manifestation of the future as seen through the eyes of a visionary, Walter P. Chrysler.

Carl Breer, along with fellow Chrysler engineers Fred Zeder and Owen Skelton, initiated a series of wind tunnel tests, in cooperation with Orville Wright, to study efficient shapes for automotive bodies. Chrysler had built the wind tunnel at the Highland Park site, an industry first, and tested at least 50 scale models by April 1930. Engineers were not surprised to learn that the industry standard two-box design was aerodynamically inefficient. In fact, they learned that most automobiles were more efficient when turned around backwards.

The engineers also studied numerous models produced by other companies and learned that in most of these vehicles 65 percent of the weight was over the rear wheels. When loaded with passengers, the weight distribution tended to become further imbalanced, rising to 75 percent or more over the rear wheels, resulting in unsafe handling characteristics on slippery roads. 

To compensate and create a smoother ride, spring rates were higher in the rear. However, this had a mixed outcome; the weight distribution and seat position subjected rear passengers to a harsher ride on anything but glass smooth highways, a rarity at the time.

Innovative weight distribution on the new Chrysler Airflow provided the car with superior handling dynamics. The engine was moved forward over the front wheels, another innovation, and the rear passenger seating was moved so they were seated in front of instead of over the rear axle. As a result, the weight distribution had approximately 54 percent of the weight over the front wheels, which evened to near 50–50 with front and rear passengers. 

As with the Edsel introduced in late 1957, Chrysler launched an extensive promotional and marketing campaign before the public was even given a glimpse of the Airflow. Since this was the first new model of a production car that was designed with engineering focused on aerodynamics, the company launched a publicity stunt in which they reversed the axles and steering gear of a conventional 1933 model.

This allowed the car to be driven “backwards” throughout Detroit. The stunt captured the public’s attention. Related advertising campaigns including print, automotive feature articles and even short films to be shown in theatres called attention to the fact that most cars were more streamlined in the rear than the front. Promotion also hinted that soon Chrysler would introduce the car of the future, a vehicle that would transform the driving experience.

Styling for the Chrysler and DeSoto Airflow was heavily influenced by the then popular streamlining and Art Deco movements that was influencing everything from hotel construction to home radio design, logos, and kitchen appliances.

Apart from costly custom models and special orders from companies such as Duesenberg, Hudson and Packard, and the Czechoslovakian Tatra, there wasn’t a car on the road that compared with the Airflow. 

It was sleek and low, the grille presented a smooth, rounded waterfall look, and headlights were built into the fenders rather than in the conventional design of pods on stanchions or on a bar that crossed in front of the radiator. In the rear, Airflow models encased the rear wheels using fender skirts adorned with sedate but noticeable chrome accents.

Instead of the industry standard of a flat panel of glass windshield, on the Airflow two sheets of glass were used in a deeply racked “vee.”  All windows used the recently introduced laminated multilayer safety glass. And as with the Cybertruck, in a vehicle debut a professional baseball player pitched a ball into a side glass with dramatic results. While most companies were still using a metal attached to wood framing construction method, the Airflow was built entirely of steel which provided superb structural integrity. Except for the Essex Terraplane, the Airflow also possessed a better power to weight ratio almost every car in production. 

Again, just as with the Edsel, the initial models introduced in January, 1934, were plagued with an array of problems, many were resultant of the rush to production and others came about because of the significant manufacturing challenges required to mass produce such a futuristic car. The first Airflows to leave the factory had major defects such as engines that broke loose from their mounts at 80 mph. These problems as well as the resultant bad press, and the unconventional styling kept customers away in droves. Only 6212 units had been produced by May of 1934.

Publicity stunts, including rolling a car off a high embankment and driving the car away when it hit bottom, and having Pawnee Bill shoot out a tire at high speed, expensive marketing campaigns, refinements, and positive reviews were of little avail. The Airflow sold poorly, and in 1937 the company discontinued the model. As an interesting historic footnote many attributes of the Airflow would be incorporated in other models and influence automotive design and engineering for decades to come.

Today the Airflow provides a glimpse of the future as seen from 1934. And for the savvy collector that wants a vintage car that can be driven as a modern car, the Airflow is the best of both worlds.

 To read more by Jim Hinckley go to jimhinckleysamerica.com

Essex – all about affordability

Originally for budget-minded buyers, designed to compete with Ford and Chevrolet, Essex found great success. This story continues from last week’s ‘Roscoe Jackson – consumed by ambition.’

THE introduction of Essex in 1919 as a separate company that was in essence a lower priced companion model to Hudson left American Motors sited.

Primarily, it was in excellent position to garner a larger share of the market as the economy recovered from the post war slump.

Though priced $US900 more than a Ford, the Essex sold briskly. Further fueling sales was the introduction of a closed sedan with a price of just $US1495. No other manufacturer was offering a closed car at this price.

Essex dealers were encouraged by Hudson to capitalize on the growing reputation for speed and endurance, the unique F head engine, and the familial association with Hudson.

Some ambitious dealers were so inspired by this message they staged speed and endurance tests in demonstrator models with customers on board!

For the abbreviated model year 21,879 cars were sold in 1919. With minor changes to styling, and slight improvements mechanically the Essex remained relatively unchanged until 1924 when the then legendary F-head four-cylinder engine was replaced with an all new L-head six-cylinder.

The Hudson built engine offered features unheard of in a mid-price automobile. Deeper oil trough to improve lubrication for the rear main bearing on steep grades. A fully balanced three bearing crankshaft. Aluminum pistons. Roller valve lifters. Automatic spark advance. A cast enbloc intake manifold. The styling was also all new.

It proved to be a winning combination as 74,523 vehicles were shipped to dealers in 1924. Meanwhile, the parent company, Hudson, was positioning itself for a mid-decade surge with all new models and the introduction of technologically advanced features.

In mid-June 1923, for the 1924 model year. Hudson a fully restyled car with an array of mechanical improvements from engine to suspension. More than 59,000 models sold. The stage was set for Hudson to become a dominant manufacturer.

For calendar year 1925, 269,474 Hudson and Essex automobiles rolled from the factory. This placed Hudson Motor Company in a solid third place position behind Chevrolet and Ford. But this was only the beginning.

With profits exceeding $14.5 million the company initiated aggressive expansion. An all new $3 million body plant was built. An additional $7 million was spent to modernize and expand production, improve the engine casting facility, and develop a training program for dealers and their mechanics. The line between Hudson and Essex was blurred in 1927, but the Essex continued to outsell its parent.

The year 1929 was pivotal for the company and for the world. The boom times of the 1920s were largely fueled by expansive corporate loans and the introduction of consumer financing programs such GMAC.

Still, in rural areas, the post war collapse in agricultural prices had devastated local economies and for most of the decade small town banks failures were a common event. The decline in agricultural prices also resulted in a marked decline in exports to countries such as Australia where wool prices had plummeted.

Through the closing years of the 1920s, Hudson continued to dominate motorsports. And this translated to sales. For 1929 the company set a new sales record with more than 300,00 Essex and Hudson units produced. This as also the year the company dropped the time honored Super Six and began promoting new models as the Greater Hudson.

Marketing touted 64 improvements as well as a long list of new standard options including electric gas and oil gauge, windshield wiper, electrolock anti-theft device.

Essex mirrored Hudson for 1929. Distributors were encouraged to stage well publicised demonstrations that highlighted braking and acceleration. With an improved engine, lower rear axle ratios and all new carburetion, the Essex was also promoted its fuel economy, 20.35 miles per US gallon. All of this marketing was enhanced with the setting of records and entry into racing as well as hill climbing events.

The stock market crash in October of 1929 heralded the dawn of a deteriorating economic climate. It would be two years before the full impact of the decline was made manifest.

In the meantime, Hudson introduced an all new line of vehicles for 1930 that had been on the drawing board since 1927, this included the stunning Model T and Model U powered by an all new in-line eight-cylinder engine. Even though Essex was not given such dramatic improvements, there were enough changes to the body as well as mechanics to warrant promotion of an all new model.

But the economic downturn, magnified by the growing environmental catastrophe that was a significant drought leading to the Dust Bowl and massive displacement of people in central farming states, was decimating sales throughout the industry.

For calendar year 1931, only 40,338 Essex automobiles rolled from the factory. Hudson fared even worse with only 17487 vehicles shipped to dealers.

But as bad it was for this company; Hudson was in a better position than many manufacturers. Studebaker, production, of all lines, was a mere 44,218 models. Ford, in 1929, produced 1,507,132 passenger cars. In 1931 production plummeted to 541,615 vehicles.

Unlike a number of manufacturers Hudson would survive the ravages of the Great Depression. They would continue to be an industry leader with innovation, and they would continue setting records for speed. They would even enjoy a short post WWII renaissance. But the company would never eclipse the sales successes of 1929.

 To read more by Jim Hinckley go to jimhinckleysamerica.com

A hallmark for low price, good quality

The Hudson Motor Car Company was the brainchild of four talented young engineers.

THEY stopped making cars in 1957, yet the make remains a legend, with a significant enduring fanbase.

For decades, their cars set speed records, featured advanced engineering, and provided customers with stylish durable transportation.

The brand enjoyed an enviable brand loyalty that proved crucial for survival during the Great Depression.

And for a new generation, this marque has been forever linked to Route 66 as result of achieving a starring roll the animated Cars movies.

It is, of course, Hudson.

Fortuitously the company was named for the primary investor, Joseph L. Hudson, owner of the largest department store in Detroit.

The Hudson Motor Car Company was the brainchild of Roscoe Jackson, Roy Chapin, Howard Coffin and George Dunham, talented young engineers that had launched their automotive careers at Olds. Dunham and Coffin further perfected their skills at companies such as Thomas-Detroit and Chalmers Detroit. Their goal was an ambitious one, build a durable and stylish automobile that could be sold for under $US1000.

Launched in 1909 against an ever-rising tide of automobile manufacturers, including Ford Motor Company that had recently introduced the Model T, Hudson Motor Car Company stunned the industry with its immediate success.

The Model Twenty was an instant hit with the consumer. Available only as a roadster the 20-hp, four-cylinder cars were marketed with a 50mph guarantee and a $900 price tag. The price included headlamps, dual side lamps, generator, three speed transmission, tool set and horn. They were available in but one-color scheme, dark maroon with black striping, black fenders, and the interior was dark blue leather. The options list included Bosch magneto, windshield, rumble seat and twenty-five-gallon fuel tank.

In 1910 4508 vehicles were produced. This was a new first year record for an automobile manufacturer. Production in 1911 increased to 6486 vehicles, and Hudson found itself in an enviable position, they had outgrown their production facilities within two years.

A new facility was built on a 22-acre parcel at Jefferson Avenue and Conner Avenue in Detroit diagonally across from the Chalmers Automobile Company factory and sales continued to climb.

Management was not content to rest on its laurels and in 1911 the Howard Coffin designed Model 33 was introduced. Buda was replaced by Continental who manufactured the revolutionary engine with balanced crankshaft to Hudson specifications.

The signature clutch with cork face in an oil filled unit that would be a Hudson standard for decades was introduced in the Model 33. The following year the company continued offering this model with limited mechanical changes, but the big news was that it was now available in seven body styles including the Mile A Minute Roadster.

The company had moved far beyond its original plan of offering cars for a $1000 price. For 1912 the most reasonable model was the three door Torpedo with a list price of $1600.

Then, in 1913, with introduction of the four-cylinder Model 37 and six-cylinder Model 54, the company was able to expand the list of available body types and offer a vehicle in the mid-price range or the luxury market. The base Model 37 coupe had a factory list price of $1400. At the opposite end of the spectrum was the Model 54 seven passenger limousine priced at $3750.

For 1914 the company began promoting themselves as the largest manufacturer of six-cylinder automobiles in the world, and discontinued production of four-cylinder models.

But the big news came in 1916 with the introduction of the astounding Series H Super Six with the first Hudson built engine, a car that would transform the company and the automobile industry. Even though it continued to be refined and improved, the Super Six would remain the company’s foundation into the early 1950s.

After a series of impressive wins on various tracks, the eagerly anticipated car drew immediate attention for its styling as well as mechanical prowess when it was officially introduced in January 1916 at the New York Auto Show. For the remainder of the year the company fueled media attention with an array a record setting races, and endurance runs.

One of the most astounding was a transcontinental drive from New York to San Francisco in five days, three hours and 31 minutes. Then (after an eight-hour break) the team returned to New York in just over six days. Incredibly, aside from issues with tires, both trips were completed without mechanical failure.

Before the end of the year drivers behind the wheel of a Hudson Super Six had shattered numerous records including the Pikes Peak Hill Climb and the stock chassis 24-hour record with an average speed of 74.9mph. This record stood until 1931 when it was eclipsed by a V16 powered Marmon.

Record setting wins translated into sales and fierce brand loyalty. Sales remained steady through the WWI years, and only dipped slightly during the post war recession. Exemplifying the durability and racing prowess of the Hudson was the 1919 Indianapolis 500. Ira Vail rolled across the line in eighth place with an average speed of 94.1mph. Denny Hickey finished with an average speed of 80.22mph. Ora Haibe started in 26th place and finished in 14th but the most astounding fact was that each of these contenders was driving a used Hudson. The newest one was a 1917 model.

As the price for a Hudson had continued to climb the company introduced the Essex as a lower priced companion car in 1919. The Essex had a sales price $700 less than the base model Hudson. Even though it was a bare bones vehicle that lacked some of the amenities Hudson owners had come to expect the car was a proven performer.

Under strict AAA supervision a stock 55-horsepower, four-cylinder Essex was tested at the Cincinnati Speedway in December 1919. In 50 hours, the car was driven 3037.4 miles for an average speed of 60.75mph.

In 1920 a brilliant promotional initiative was launched. The drivers and relief drivers of four Essex cars were sworn in as US post Office letter carriers. Then a bag of mail was loaded in each car, two on the west coast and two on the east coast. The average time for completion of the coast to coast run was an astonishing four days, twenty-one hours, and thirty-two minutes. Not surprising is the fact that by the beginning of 1921 the Essex was outselling its parent.  

But this was just the beginning.

Part two next week.

 To read more by Jim Hinckley go to jimhinckleysamerica.com

From horses to horsepower

After the horse fell out of vogue, carriage-makers had to adapt – and fast. Some did well.

 THE dawning of the automotive age was the death knell for countless carriage building companies. And yet the infancy of the American auto industry was also an era of unbridled opportunity for the owners of carriage manufacturing concerns - if they had vision.

Counted among the companies that successfully made the transition from horse drawn to horsepower was an outfit based in South Bend, Indiana: Studebaker. The company’s origins were as a simple blacksmith shop. Then came the manufacture of wheelbarrows in the California gold fields. By the mid-1880s this was one of the largest producers of wheeled vehicles in the world, prams, freight wagons, surreys, coaches, gun carriages, and ambulances. At the dawning of the 20th century the company took a tentative step toward automobile manufacturing with the production of electric car designed by Thomas Edison. The rest, as they say, is history.

Jacob J. Deal established a blacksmith and wagon repair shop in Jonesville, Michigan in 1858. In 1865, with a workforce of twelve men, he initiated the manufacture of wagons, buggies, and sleighs. By 1890, as one of the largest manufacturers in the upper Midwest, the company was turning out hundreds of carts, freight wagons, surreys, carriages and sleighs each year. For the company’s owners the automobile the automobile represented new opportunity and by the early 1900s Deal was a major supplier of commercial van bodies for fledgling automobile manufacturers in nearby Jackson and Hillsdale.

By 1908 even a company as successful as Deal could no longer ignore the increasing dominance of the automobile. And so, the company was reorganized and diversified to include automobile manufacturing. By all accounts, the automobile was as quality a product as the carriages and wagons that rolled from the factory. Still, it proved to be a short-lived endeavor and the company abandoned automobile production, returned to the manufacture of wagons, and then quietly closed its doors in 1915.

The McFarlan Wagon Manufacturing Company of Connersville, Indiana was established in 1856. As with Deal, the company prospered, expanded, and by the late 19th century was a leading manufacturing of horse drawn transportation. But unlike Deal, McFarlan successfully made the transition from wagon manufacturer to the manufacturer of luxurious automobiles that became an industry standard.

A key to the company’s transition was the vision displayed by the owners in 1886 when they established a modern industrial park. The McFarlan park provided immediate access to the railroad and cheap energy as McFarlan also owned a natural gas company. By leasing property to manufacturers and suppliers of carriage and buggy equipment, and furniture companies, McFarlan was able to lower their production costs. In the early 20th century the park would be dominated by the manufacturers of automotive components, and this too would work in McFarlan’s favor.

In June 1909, there was a simple, short announcement in a trade journal, “The McFarlan Carriage Company of Connersville, Indiana has announced that they will soon begin manufacturing a motor buggy.” The company was embracing the future but with the crippling mindset of the 19th century. Just as Henry Ford was on the cusp on launching mass production to lower the cost of each vehicle, the McFarlan business model centered on manufacturing two hundred vehicles per year for the “discriminating buyer.” As a result, the company began pricing themselves out of the market almost from the beginning. The first models had a factory list price of $US2000 (a Ford was $850) but by 1918 prices were surpassing $5000.

The first McFarlan’s rolled from the factory in late 1909 and were immediately track tested at the new Indianapolis Motor Speedway. In the first race, they claimed third and fifth place, and in the second race, fourth and fifth. Surprisingly, even though the car continued to earn recognition through racing, the decision was made to focus exclusively on the production of luxury cars, and in 1913 wagon manufacturing was abandoned.    

During the teens the three “P” s – Packard, Pierce Arrow and Peerless – dominated the luxury car market, but McFarlan was in a league all its own. Before the company closed its doors in 1928, the company had established a reputation for the limited production of huge luxury cars with ostentatious body work that appealed to movie star, gangsters, and oil men. The list of owners included boxer Jack Dempsey and Virginia governor E. Lee Trinkle. Al Capone bought a McFarlan for his wife, Mae, in 1924 and bought a second one in 1926 for his use.

As an example of the companies over the top luxury appointments, in 1922 a special model was built for display at the Chicago Automobile Show. Standard models made extensive use of nickel plating. On the display car this was replaced with 24 carat gold! It was purchased by a wealthy Oklahoma oil tycoon as a gift for his wife for the princely sum of $25,000. 

Initially the company used engines produced by a variety of companies including Buda, Continental, and Brownell. For the line of commercial cars developed in 1920, the company would continue its association with Continental but in the cars built for the discriminating buyer the engines were produced by McFarlan. This included the monstrous 573-c.i.d Twin Valve Six with triple ignition and three sparkplugs per cylinder that was rated at 120-horsepower. Quirky options, often trouble prone, were also a part of the cars appeal. These included vacuum assist starting, heated steering wheel, and front and rear heating, and self-lubricating chassis.

By 1922, the company’s best year with production of 235 vehicles, the proverbial handwriting was on the wall. The company was in dire financial condition. The post war recession had crippled a number of auto manufacturers and a company such as McFarlan was in no position to compete. They were still using the antiquated T head engine, and their prices now ranged from $6,300 to $9,000.

With no money for restyling the company soldiered own in a valiant attempt to remain solvent. By contracting with Lycoming, the cars were updated mechanically but the styling was increasingly dated and ever more luxurious interiors, and gadgets, were not enough to maintain even mediocre sales. Then in 1924, Harry McFarlan fell ill and turned over management of the company to Burton Barrows. The final blows came in 1928. Both McFarlan and Barrows died within weeks of each other. And this was shortly after the company was forced into receivership.

The final chapter in the McFarlan story was written by E.L. Cord, the swashbuckling entrepreneur behind the Auburn/Cord/Duesenberg empire. In 1926 Cord began building his automotive empire by trading Auburn stock for a controlling interest in Duesenberg. The following year he gained control of the Lycoming Engine Company of Pennsylvania and bought major auto plants in the McFarlan industrial park, the Lexington Automobile Company and the Ansted Engine Works. Then in 1928 he acquired the Central Manufacturing Company followed a few months later by the acquisition of McFarland. He then consolidated the factories and transformed 82 acres of the park into a manufacturing complex for Auburn.

By 1930 McFarlan was on the fast track to becoming an historic footnote. With no resale value as a used car, McFarlan’s were relegated to the back of car lots, to salvage yards and were converted to trucks. Survivors were consumed by the scrap drives during WWII. Today only nineteen cars are known to exist, and they seldom change hands. Each is a tangible link to a bygone era, a time when an automobile company could cater almost exclusively to the rich and famous and turn a profit.

 To read more by Jim Hinckley go to jimhinckleysamerica.com